Outhouse › Dark Patterns › Access

Back-button hijacking

History entries added on arrival so that the back button stays on the page.

Why it matters

The back button is the fastest way off a website. A page that adds entries to the browser's history as it loads makes the back button return to the same page, once or several times, giving the visitor a chance to reconsider.

Some visitors give up and close the tab. Their time on page is recorded as excellent.

How Outhouse measures it

On server grades, Outhouse counts history entries the page pushes during load, before any click, and those that point back to the same page. One to the same page scores in full. Grades run in your own browser do not measure this.

This audit counts towards Dark Patterns, with a weight of 2. A category is 75% its two highest-scoring audits and 25% all of its audits, weighted, so a site is judged mostly on what it does most and partly on how many things it does.

How to improve your score

Install Exit Intent. Available on selected plans. See all products.

Related audits

• Paywalls and sign-up walls: Content that stops partway and asks for an account, an email address or a subscription.