WordPress's Automattic openly tracks websites bailing from rival WP Engine

The feud between Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg and rival web hosting firm WP Engine has led Automattic to create a website that lists WordPress customers who have moved their site hosting away from WP Engine and those who haven't. "The purpose of this site is to track how many sites have left WP Engine," the site's GitHub repo …

[cornetman]

> According to the WP Engine Tracker website, more than 16,700 sites have left already WPE since September 21 as of the time this article was filed, up from 15,080 on November 6.

This might actually seriously backfire on Mullenweg and Automattic as it would seem to be evidence that they are materially affecting the business of WP Engine which is at least one of the claims made in the suit against them.

[simonlb]

Just having a number of sites which have left WPE and not providing any other figures for those who have left WordPress, joined WPE or abandoned both of them makes the tracker website pointless and have no credibility. It's just a number and has no meaning. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to provide relevant data to provide the context for what you are claiming. As it currently stands, the tracker website is equivalent to an orange person claiming that, "In Springfield, they are eating all the dogs..."

[Roland6]

“ it makes a list of WP Engine sites available as a .csv file.”

Not quite pointless, just not as useless as some may claim.

The trouble is this is worrying, as the nutters are making open source more proprietary, namely, there is only on source and that is the “official” project aka OEM…

[cornetman]

> Just having a number of sites which have left WPE and not providing any other figures for those who have left WordPress, joined WPE or abandoned both of them makes the tracker website pointless and have no credibility.

I guess to a certain extent that's true, but it could indicate intention to the courts as well as some evidence of effect which could be valuable to WP Engine in its suit. I mean why else would you put up a website highlighting the partial demise of a competitor in the context of attacking them? I can't imagine that Mullenweg consulted an lawyer before doing this as they would absolutely have advised against this kind of thing.

He does sound pretty deranged in this instance. It seems to me that there must be something else more personal going on in the background to have triggered this senseless rampage against this one of *many* hosting competitors. He certainly seems to be blind to the harm that this is having on his company's brand and the image of Wordpress itself.

[Anonymous Coward]

The whole affair- or rather, the light in which Mullenweg's own conduct casts him and his company- has a stink about it I can only describe as Musk-esque (no pun intended).

Even if the original complaint- that WP Engine were profiting off Wordpress while giving nothing back- was legit, the way Mullenweg has gone about it isn't.

Blocking access to WP's facilities may be legal, but using it as a blatantly selective weapon against a rival risks seriously poisoning the well of non-partisan trust the "community" took for granted until now, and has probably already done so.

Using a dubious trademark dispute they had no problem with until they wanted to use that to force WPEngine to contribute is even less justifiable.

It's also clear that there's now a blurring of the lines and conflict of interest between the Wordpress Foundation nonprofit and Automattic with Mullenweg arguably leveraging his involvement in the former.

As I said, even if the original criticism of WPEngine was legit, Mullenweg's response isn't, and he's already well into into untrustworthy douchebag techbro territory.

[Jamie Jones]

WTF?

I'd never use such an unstable and irrationally run company such as Automattic, and the annoyingly deliberately misspelt company name doesn't help either!

[Ian 55]

Re: WTF?

Hmm, why might someone called Matt spell 'automatic' with two Ts?

Proof he once had a sense of humour.

[iron]

Re: WTF?

More like proof he's always been an egotistical wanker.

[jdelarunz]

Re: WTF?

The "matt" in Automattic refers to Matt Mullenweg. Who is clearly letting his power go to his head.

[Jamie Jones]

Re: WTF?

Ah, that makes more sense than my guess about dusty roof spaces...

[Paul Crawford]

Re: WTF?

the annoyingly deliberately misspelt company name doesn't help either!

While in this case it seems suspiciously like an ego trip, having a company/product name that differs from a common dictionary word is really handy if you need to do a web search for it.

[sabroni]

Re: is really handy if you need to do a web search for it.

If you already know it is misspelt. If you've just heard the name and search the web for it with the traditional spelling you probably won't find it.

So not really handy if you think about it....

[DoctorPaul]

Re: WTF?

And trademark it

[Alan Brown]

Re: WTF?

Dictionary words are notoriously hard to trademark (unless you have billions at hand along with a friendly political crony)

[Anonymous Coward]

Are all CEOs

Sociopaths?

[NapTime ForTruth]

Re: Are all CEOs

To a first approximation, yes.

[graemep]

Re: Are all CEOs

More likely to be narcissistic than sociopathic or psychopathic: https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210830-how-narcissists-climb-the-career-ladder-quickly

[Alan Brown]

Re: Are all CEOs

They aren't mutually exclusive traits

[the hawk]

Welp, if I were starting a new Wordpress site it would now be hosted with WP Engine, just because this goon doesn’t want me to.

Although, realistically, it’s so damaging for the Wordpress brand that it’s yet another reason not to use it in any form.

[AlabastaRasta]

There might be issues with compliance with GDPR

Just because automattic says its publicly available information doesn't mean it is and that they are allowed to process and publish it.

They are essentially publishing info about test and dev sites and, by associating sites with WPE, also info about infrastructure that will be like a big christmas present for bad actors. And thats being published by a company that is a huge data processor of highly sensitive info itself. Thats problematic, i think.

There is talk on reddit about reporting this to EU data protection authorities.

[Alan Brown]

Re: There might be issues with compliance with GDPR

"There is talk on reddit about reporting this to EU data protection authorities."

I'd have thought the media coverage about this would have already alerted the authorities to investigate

They don't exist to only operate when reports come in. They're supposed to be surveilling for breaches

[Blackjack]

A reminder that both WordPress and anything based on it is not secure thanks to the way they handle plugins.

[Donn Bly]

"WP Engine can and always has been able to access the WordPress software and plugins available on WordPress.org, as can anyone."

That is a very interesting claim, considering that this started with Automattic BLOCKING access. Everyone who has been following this fiasco knows that they are lying through their teeth. Not that they had a lot of credibility left, but they certainly lowered it even more.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wicked little man

[holmegm]

Insane.

As someone who works with WordPress as bread and butter in an agency - they both kind of suck as hosts, though I would say that WP Engine sucks *less*.

You don't *need* special weird non-standard hosting for WordPress - which is a fair description of both Automattic hosting and WP Engine - you only need php and MySQL.

Anyway, zillions of hosts advertise WordPress hosting - it's just a marketing tactic. Fine, Mullenweg has a bee in his bonnet about WP Engine, but that shouldn't be anybody's problem except his.

[Pascal Monett]

So, getting petty are we ?

This whole story is visibly being drawn into the depths of the sewer.

I would like to know if publishing data on the customer activity of your competitor is legal. It seems to me that it is not, even if the information is so-called public.

[Trigun]

Re: So, getting petty are we ?

I would have thought it was legal as long as the data is definitely publicly available, as otherwise you couldn't criticise anything publicly.

If the data was knowingly wrong or misrepresented then that's another matter, of course.

[dmacleo]

please forgive me...edited

but I have not had a chance to see if the data shows that the people who left didn't just go to another host (or self host) their WP sites.

has anyone looked into this? bunch of medical appts lately so did not get time to research before asking the foolish question.

I may be wrong but just stating who left w/o stating where they went is fluff data.

edit: I just saw this statement I missed earlier

The site does not say whether anyone has moved in the opposite direction, from Automattic or other hosts to WP Engine or to another content management ecosystem entirely.

so please ignore the question, debated deleting post figured more honest to leave it.

[Roland6]

Re: please forgive me...edited

The website statement:

“ WP Engine Tracker

This is the number of websites that have left WP Engine and found a new home since Sep 21, 2024.”

Also drew my attention, I suggest this lack clarity on a site that would want to crow how wonderful theiir service was, would indicate many are choosing an alternative to WordPress/Automattic as their new home. So looks like the door is opening on a second round, where Wordpress extorts more from those hosting services who are paying ..