If you have ever pressed the back button on a website and still couldn’t leave, you have likely experienced what Google calls 'back button hijacking.' This is a trick used by some sites to block or ...

Welcome to the week’s Pulse: updates affect what Google considers spam, what happens when you report it, and what agentic search looks like in practice. Here’s what matters for you and your work.

In short: Google is classifying “back button hijacking” as spam, targeting sites that abuse the browser History API to trap users when they try to navigate away. Enforcement begins 15 June 2026, with ...

So you thought you’d just read that webpage and then go back to the previous page? A bold assumption. All too often, clicking the back button in your browser doesn’t actually take you back. It’s ...

As you know, Google announced a new search spam penalty for back button hijacking. Site owners have until June 15, 2026 to remove any such functionality from its site or it will be subject to a manual ...

For the original iTunes version, click here. This week we covered a new Google Search spam penalty for back button hijacking. Google also updated its spam report, it may now be used for manual actions ...