Yes, makes sense. We will remove this asap.
For example, if you have a link going to Google somewhere you might put target="_blank" on it.
Otherwise, its use has always been frowned upon because it breaks the back button (it's a new window/tab!), disrupts context (unless that disruption makes sense, like above), and spams the taskbar/tab bar.
For a user there is the benefit that they will not lose their presence on the website. Many users do not know how to navigate back.
Of course, in times long gone a new window would appear, and the pattern made even more sense than with tabs.
If you would have left out the word "always", I might have agreed that for this particular website and intended audience, it does not make much of a difference.
However, most people are not very skilled when it comes to computers.
Most people don't know tabs or multiple windows, either.