Guys, no doubt it would be ideal to host every website in the target-market country. But lets say you have a few dozen sites intended for around 10 countries. Some make a lot of money and some less. Those circumstances might force you to prioritise where you spend your money. Life is not black & white, so while the concept of local hosting is true in theory, I’m sure most of you multi-market affiliates are compromising here and there (like me).
And again – it is a proven fact that you don’t HAVE TO host locally in order to rank in the top results.