On November 7, 2024, Automattic created a controversial website called WordPressEngineTracker.com, designed to keep tabs on the number of websites seemingly abandoning WP Engine for different hosting options. While publishing this post, the tracker now reports an astonishing 16,180 websites have switched away from WP Engine.
The domain was registered on October 3, 2024, while the website was launched on November 6, 2024.
The financial fallout from these changes carries significant weight. Considering that the “Essentials” hosting tier of WPEngine costs $20 monthly, it could be losing around $323,600 each month to WP Engine. This amounts to approximately $3,883,200 annually for the company.
Besides tracking, the site also offers a CSV download file of all the websites that are hosted on WPEngine. The download buttons shows this text “Download a CSV of all sites ready for a new home” As on 7th Nov 2024, it has 844560 sites listed.
The github page of this website shows Allan Cole as Contributor, who is an Automattic empolyee.
The official account of WordPress shared this site on X while including a link urging visitors to check out hosting alternatives found on WordPress.org, which raises eyebrows regarding Automattic’s motives. Critics suggest this strategy might complicate legal arguments for Automattic’s lawyers since it seemingly aims to harm WP Engine’s business.
A WordPress dev, Duane Storey revealed that WordPress potentially tracks user sites by including URLs in API requests. Each request sent to the WordPress.org API contains detailed information, including the version number, website URL, and IP address. He also developed a plugin wp-api-privacy to restrict information passed via the WordPress HTTP API.
This behavior has raised privacy concerns, with users questioning why WordPress needs this data and speculating about its potential use for monitoring hosting changes. The move has sparked debates over privacy policy compliance and whether such practices align with GDPR and community expectations. Here is the related Reddict discussion link.
In this same Reddit thread, Matt Mullenweg made a cryptic comment, stating: “Either I’m an idiot, or something is going on that you don’t understand. Let’s check back in a month. :)”
