Mar
31
2005Pretty Sneaky, WordPress…
31
2005
Wordpress, the organization that creates the blogging software used by this site just got bitch-slapped by Google for some really sneaky ways of scamming the Google AdWords system.
I don’t think that what they did was horrendous or anything, but it was definitely sleazy, and undignified. And it brings up a good question about open source software development.
I’m all for open source software, if you choose to go that route with what you’re developing, but it’s not the right business model for everything - even if you don’t want to make money. If you’re offering a service that requires substantial funds to simply continue its existence (major bandwith, hosting, etc.) , deal with the reality of the situation, and charge what you must to keep in business, so you don’t wind up in a situation like this. Surely, there is a big enough loyal WordPress user base that if they were simply up front about their financial needs, enough folks would pitch in a few bucks to keep the site up and running - with dignity.
Sigh. I don’t know to make of this.
Mostly, since I’m a big fan of WP, I’m just sad that there’s negative press about it. I’m also sad that their funding is in such a state that this was deemed necessary (no matter how wrongly).
This link sheds some light on it from somebody who knows Matt.
Sigh.
david 3/31/05 @ 6:58 pm