1 Million Forced Installs and a 1-Star Rating: Inside SiteGround’s AI Plugin Rollout
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SiteGround auto-installed and auto-activated its new AI plugin (sg-ai-studio) on over a million WordPress sites without meaningful user consent, triggering immediate backlash. The plugin now holds a 1.1-star rating on the WordPress plugin repository. SiteGround defended the move by saying the plugin is passive until connected and that customers were emailed in advance, but users rejected this framing — their objection was about consent and control, not safety. The incident also highlights a fairness problem in the WordPress plugin directory, where forced installs artificially inflated the plugin's ranking above plugins that earned their installs organically. The author draws three lessons: always default to opt-in, 'we technically told you' is not consent, and distribution reach is a trust responsibility not a shortcut.
