But if traffic originators (e.g. Google) have a bonsai section that comprises the front half of their results... you can't fault a lot of non-bonsai trees for considering how they might qualify.

At the end of the day, this is Google's mess.

The article summarizes the situation well (clarification added by me):

>> I think CNET is making a mistake, but they’ve also identified a serious problem for the digital news ecosystem: Old content is a burden to carry [because it lacks a viable economic model], and intentionally or not, Google isn’t making that lift any easier.