How Recent Lawsuits At WordPress May Impact Your Business
Nearly half of the internet runs WordPress, with 43.5% of all websites built on WordPress as of October 2024.
It’s so popular because it is easy to use. It’s easy to use because it is an open-source platform with a good ecosystem of themes, plugins, managed hosting services, and more.
However, recent lawsuits and changes at WordPress may impact small businesses marketing, including website performance, security, and growth in the future.
Let’s talk about what’s happening in the world of WordPress and what that might mean for your business.
A Little Background On WordPress And WP Engine
WordPress.org is where anyone can download WordPress - the website and content management system - for free to do with as they like. Think of it as the default free version of Wordpress.
The WordPress system was created, in part, by Matt Mullenweg. He is now the CEO of Automattic - a separate company that still contributes to the WordPress open source code but that also runs WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is a paid hosting service (by Automattic and the guy who made WordPress) - so people who do not want to deal with self-managing their own tech and hosting environment can more simply run a WordPress-based website. Think of it as the default paid version of WordPress.
WP Engine is a separate company aligned with a private equity firm named Silver Lake. It provides WordPress hosting and management services, putting its own custom spin on your WordPress experience. WP Engine is a competitor of WordPress.com.
What Started This WordPress vs. WP Engine Fight
WordPress accused WP Engine of using WordPress trademarks improperly, not contributing enough to the open-source WordPress project, and modifying WordPress in a way that hinders the experience and leads to potential compatibility problems.
Automattic attempted to enter into a “Trademark License Agreement” with WP Engine. Amongst other restraints like not modifying code, Automattic asked WP Engine to pay 8% of gross revenue as a royalty fee on an ongoing basis.
Matt Mullenweg of Automattic/WordPress.com has let his feelings be known via conference presentations, social media, his personal blog, and the wordpress.org blog - having a public fight with WP Engine and calling the company “a cancer to WordPress,” amongst other things.
Since then, there has been a lot of legal back and forth, with Automattic at one point cutting off WP Engine’s access to code.
During some peak backlash, Automattic offered severance to any employees who disagreed with Mullenweg’s stance on the WP Engine fight. Approximately 8% of Automattic’s staff opted to take severance - as revealed on Matt’s own blog.
On one side of the fight, you have the guy who basically invented WordPress trying to selectively enforce rules and saying you can’t use this open-source resource because you aren’t using it the way it was intended.
On the other side, you have a business that is trying to make money by modifying open-source code with the goal of maximizing the potential for income.
The Potential Problem For Small Businesses
While this impacts a single company now, it has people concerned about how open WordPress really is - and if other WordPress developers, hosting companies, or other open-source content in the future may be restricted and gated.
Internet drama aside - there are real concerns here for anyone using WordPress or a WordPress-related product.
As part of this legal back-and-forth, WP Engine had lost access to Wordpress.org - meaning their current clients were unable to update plugins or themes.
Outdated plugins and themes can lead to security issues and hacks on websites.
While WP Engine has since been able to create workarounds, it still demonstrates there may be issues with automatic theme and plug-in updates in the future.
Now, manual updates and site backups will likely be more important - and when the whole purpose of managed WordPress hosting services like WP Engine is to simplify your experience, this seems problematic.
It ultimately means there is increased potential for website performance issues, functionality, and security – all because two companies are having a fight.
What Can You Do To Protect Yourself?
If your website runs on WP Engine specifically or WordPress in general, you should make sure you are in the loop on news like this.
You should back up your website on a regular basis.
If you are savvy enough to do it, manually update your plugins and themes.
If you’re not, consider hiring someone to do that.
It is also important to think about the future of your website, whether that means a different managed WordPress host or migrating your website to another platform altogether.
Does Footbridge Media Use WordPress?
Once upon a time, Footbridge Media and our clients ran on WordPress. It has been many years since then, and our clients are now successfully managed on our own separate system as maintained completely internally.
We migrated off of WordPress to gain more control over our sites. By developing our own platform, we could create something that we know would work ideally for our exact niche of home service company websites.
For new clients coming to Footbridge Media now, whether they already have a website or not, we include new website design and development as part of our core marketing services - so that all contractors can have a website they can truly call their own.
If you think it may be time to consider some alternatives to WordPress or another website you’re not satisfied with, the pros here at Footbridge Media are ready to help.
We have managed services to help bring your home services business to the next level. You can learn more about our website and marketing services online here.
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About Chris Lonergan
Chris Lonergan has over 12 years of contractor marketing experience with Footbridge Media. With a background in web design, print design, content creation, and online marketing, Chris is focused on providing quality marketing and business solutions in the construction and service industries - helping small business owners to more efficiently manage their company and grow their operations.
