[SnowLprd]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. My unsolicited two cents is that forcing this behavior on site visitors isn't worth whatever value you get from the analytics data.

Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I find this behavior to be offensive enough that I immediately stop reading and move on. Trading user experience for analytics data is not a good trade.

[spicyj]

I also find forcing a new window/tab annoying and it makes sense not to when you're targeting a technical audience. However, I've just as often heard complaints from less-technical users who don't reflexively cmd/ctrl-click on links and for whom opening new windows in tabs is a feature, so even though forcing a new window can be annoying it's often a decision made to improve UX.

[SnowLprd]

That's what the Back button is for.

Less-technical users don't need to know how to cmd/ctrl-click on links because even less-technical users know how to use the Back button. If they don't want to use the Back button and instead want to open links in new tabs, there are multiple mechanisms available to them (whether they know about them or not).

The reverse is not true: if you don't want to open a link in a new tab, but that behavior is being forced on you, there is no way to avoid it.

Regardless of the motive, this behavior is not a UX improvement.

[leephillips]

If you're in the minority I'm in the same one. This kind of design is rude, and the author's explanation about how he decided to be rude to his readers so that it would be more convenient for him to spy on them (tracking, analytics) tells me everything I need to know about him.