IMO backspace as a shortcut key deserves to be overridden. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally left a page while typing backspace after losing focus in a form I thought I was editing.
If I were Google, I'd rather reduce the potential for negative experiences from shortcuts for my customers, most of whom I'm guessing rarely use them.
Also, how are the cursor keys being overridden in a non-standard way? Every input box on Google Search feels intuitive to me.
If Google wants to take a stand and change the behavior of backspace, they should do it in their browser. What they should not do is implement a standard keyboard navigation at the browser level, and then override it with nonstandard actions occasionally.
> IMO backspace as a shortcut key deserves to be overridden.
Absolutely. That shortcut has screwed me up so many times I can't even count. I found a way to disable that function entirely in Firefox. If anyone else wants to do the same, you just change the browser.backspace_action setting on the about:config page to 2.
Completely agreed on backspace; Alt/Cmd+Left already covers it well enough. (I've been having a similar problem with two-finger swipe pageback in Chrome anytime I need to scroll horizontally.)
If I were Google, I'd rather reduce the potential for negative experiences from shortcuts for my customers, most of whom I'm guessing rarely use them.
Also, how are the cursor keys being overridden in a non-standard way? Every input box on Google Search feels intuitive to me.