Google Rolls Out Chrome 150 for Android With Back Button and New Site Controls

Q: Google's new back button fights spam, but what did Android users lose in the redesigned Chrome menu?

Android users did not lose the ability to view page details, but they did lose the old dedicated “Info” button in Chrome’s three-dot menu. In Chrome 150’s redesigned menu, Google added a visible back arrow alongside the forward button. To make room, the long-standing page info shortcut was removed from the top row and replaced by a new “Site controls” entry lower in the menu. That means permissions, security details, cookies and related site settings are still available, but they are no longer as immediately accessible as before. Users also lost some menu familiarity. The bookmark star and download buttons shifted to the right, which may disrupt established muscle memory, and “Add to Home screen” was renamed “Install and create shortcut.” That is more a relabeling than a removal, but it changes how the option appears. The “fights spam” angle refers to Google’s separate crackdown on “back button hijacking,” a deceptive tactic in which sites interfere with normal browser navigation. The new Chrome menu back button itself is mainly a usability update, not a direct anti-spam tool.

Q: With its new anti-hijacking policy, could Google's Chrome update accidentally penalize your favorite websites?

Yes — but not because of the Chrome 150 menu redesign itself. The new Chrome for Android update, which adds a dedicated back button in the three-dot menu, is a user-interface change. It does not punish sites. The risk comes from a separate Google Search spam policy against “back button hijacking,” which Google began enforcing on June 15, 2026. That policy targets sites that interfere with normal browser navigation — for example, trapping users on a page, inserting fake history entries, or sending them to pages they never intended to visit when they press Back. Google classifies that as a malicious practice and says violators can face manual spam actions or automated ranking demotions in Search. A legitimate site could still get caught if the behavior comes from third-party code rather than the publisher’s own design. Google has warned that ad tech, embedded libraries, or other scripts can trigger back-button hijacking without the site owner fully realizing it. In practice, that means a favorite site could lose search visibility if one of its partners injects abusive navigation behavior. The key distinction is that Chrome’s new back button does not create the penalty; it reinforces Google’s broader push for predictable navigation. Sites that use browser history tools for normal functions, such as single-page apps, are not the target as long as users can still go back as expected. Site owners are being urged to audit scripts and ad integrations closely.

3 articles · Updated · Android Authority · Jul 9

Chrome 150 for Android is rolling out with a dedicated back button in the three-dot menu, finally bringing over a feature long available on iOS.
The update places back and forward arrows side by side, replaces the old site info button with a new “Site controls” option, and renames “Add to Home screen” to “Install and create shortcut.”
Google appears to be releasing the changes gradually: Android Authority said most of its phones on the latest Play Store build still lacked the new back button and site controls, though the renamed install option was visible.
That uneven availability points to another phased server-side rollout, meaning users may need to wait even after updating Chrome from the Play Store.