Where are the A/B tests for opening links in new tabs?

Yesterday, I asked for arguments and data about why website owners open links in new tabs or windows. I’ve enjoyed the discussion and learned a lot from the reactions. People have strong feelings about how links should be handled and what behavior they prefer.

Unfortunately, no one has addressed the core question that I was trying to answer. Some of that is to be expected. This is a topic people like to talk about. Everyone has an opinion.

But I also wasn’t specific enough in my previous article. In a comment on the previous article, Ben LaCroix shared a summary from Chris Coyier that describes scenarios where it makes sense to open a link in a new tab—for example, “there is user-initiated media playing.” This is a good argument, but it isn’t what I’m looking for. I’m not particularly interested in UX-based rationale.

What I want to know is where’s the data?

It’s been nearly twenty years that we’ve been discussing whether or not to open outbound links in new tabs or windows. Could it really be true that no one has run an A/B test on it?

In an industry that tries to measure every minute action a user takes, no one has bothered to test whether opening links in a new tab or window increases business value? I find this hard to believe. Can anyone show me some data? Anyone?