Google cracks down on back button hijacking

This update is a direct strike against aggressive "dwell time" hacks and "back-button traps" that have plagued the mobile web for years.

• –Publishers are now strictly liable for third-party scripts, meaning ad networks or recommendation widgets that hijack the back button can cause entire sites to be suppressed.
• –The June 15 deadline creates an urgent audit window for SEO teams to inventory scripts before automated demotions—which are notoriously difficult to diagnose—kick in.
• –The policy signals a shift toward penalizing deceptive navigation patterns as "malicious," moving beyond content quality into pure technical user experience enforcement.
• –This creates a massive conflict between monetization teams seeking higher ad impressions and SEO teams tasked with maintaining search visibility.