Aron -

All good points. And thanks for the reply. In order of your points, but not inclusive:

1. You are correct about Google News traffic — and I should have clarified that Google search and apps have the same problem generally. So we are talking 20–30% of traffic in some cases. Google News was just my specific example of the behavior.
2. The News & Observer should not be treated as an authoritative source for Trump news — anymore than the Baltimore Sun should be for Hurricane Florence news. Really — I just want Google to recognize that proximity is a news value and give it more weight in the algorithm.
3. I guarantee the N&O got a search bump this week — but the question is fairness. Why send ANY traffic to Business Insider for Florence when the real cost/effort is by local newsrooms that need the traffic.
4. I have been watching the effect for years — especially while at McClatchy. Hurricanes are a perfect case study for it — but it occurs in any story with localized impact and national interest. When I was in New Hampshire 15 years ago it happened to us with a sensational crime story in one of our small towns.
5. A key point to my ‘robbery’ metaphor is to bring the financial costs into this argument. It is a fairness issue — but it is also literally money that local media need and the ‘SEO Winners’ have not necessarily earned in every case.