"Deceptive Practice": Google Penalizes "Back-Button Hijacking" as Spam

Google has announced that it will penalize websites that use so-called “Back-Button Hijacking.” This practice redirects users to a website filled with ads or article recommendations when they use the browser's back button instead of taking them to the intended previous page.

Google: Back-Button Hijacking is Spam

Google informs in a blog post on its “Search Central” blog that the company is expanding its spam policies to “counter a deceptive practice known as 'Back-Button Hijacking'.” The company has observed a significant increase in this behavior. To curb it, Google will henceforth classify this practice by websites as “an explicit violation of the'malicious practices' provisions in the spam policies.”

Starting June 15, the company will consider this “deceptive practice” a violation of its policies on unfair practices (Malicious Practices). These include, among others, cloaking, link spam, and more.

Websites engaging in “Back-Button Hijacking” can henceforth expect to face manual spam actions or automatic downgrades from Google. This could affect the website's performance, ultimately leading to reduced visibility in Google search results.

“Malicious practices create a mismatch between user expectations and the actual outcome, leading to a negative and deceptive user experience or compromised user security or privacy,” the company further explains.

Get rid of it

Google explicitly advises website operators to remove or at least disable the scripts or techniques used to integrate or replace misleading or manipulative pages in a user's browser history.

It can also happen that libraries or advertising platforms integrated into the website trigger “Back-Button Hijacking,” Google writes. If this is the case, website operators should thoroughly review their technical implementation and remove or disable any code, imports, or configurations responsible for “Back-Button Hijacking.” If a website is affected by a manual spam action from Google and the operators have resolved the issue, they can submit a request for re-evaluation in Search Console.

(afl)