Automattic for sale? Yikes.
It seems that it’s just rumors so far, but Automattic, the company behind our favorite blogging platform, may be up for sale.
This makes sense. They’ve invested money, time and energy in building up a huge user base and community, and WordPress.com is one of the most visited sites on the web. Plus they have actually figured out how to generate some kind of revenue from WordPress.com by selling advanced packages and features – something many of today’s web 2.0 and Internet startups have not managed to do, and yet even they get bought out or invested in.
So from an investment point of view, Automattic could be seen as a pretty solid company. But from a lover-of-WordPress point of view, this rumor makes me nervous. Let’s say they are bought out (and Matt and friends get to live happily ever after, which they deserve); what happens to the open source model? Will the free WordPress platform continue to be developed? Will annoying ads be added to WordPress.com blogs? How about plugins – will they be encouraged or banished into the night?
I guess we’ll have to wait and see. On the one hand, I would be happy for the Automattic guys if they get to enjoy a large exit. On the other, selfish hand, I have to ask: what about me?
Category: News & Views
Well, we certainly now know what the major topic of conversation will be outside the WordCamp workshops tomorrow.
(And I second the selfish aspect, though I would completely understand them. This is what startups and upstarts dream about!)
[...] this just in! Today’s surfing around on facebook brought me to this post by Miriam over at WordPressGarage. Yikes, indeed! The hallways will be abuzz [...]
Nice to have met you yesterday.
I asked Lorelle at dinner last night after the conference and she said that because there was an evaluation, some people saw it as a precursor to being put up for sale, but that wasn’t in the works. Hopefully, she’s right.
I agree with you on the one hand i am Glad about Matt and the Guys that they might get piles of money but a i do worry about me and other WordPress lovers what will be the future of WordPress will the new guys maintain its standards or what ???
Automattic already runs Adsense on wordpress.com blogs, though many people aren’t aware of this since they’re not shown to logged-in users or regular visitors. But yes, if the site is acquired by a major ad publisher I would expect ads to be shown to everyone all the time.
that girl again – are you sure that ads appear on WordPress.com blogs? I’ve visited tons of blogs that are there and I’ve never seen an ad.
I read something a while ago about ads only being displayed occasionally. Or perhaps that was Blogspot, I’m not sure.
that girl again is correct. From http://wordpress.com/features/
“Advertising
To support the service we may occasionally show Google text ads on your blog, however we do this very rarely. In the future you’ll be able to purchase an upgrade to either turn the ads off or show your own ads and make money from your blog.”