Jetpack - Why I Wont Be Using It

bycinder14

67 followers

Updated 5 years ago

I have been informed that Jetpack is not permitted/blocked on Wealthy Affiliate.

So this blog is directed to those who chose to host their website outside of WA.

Disclaimer; I am in no way a legal expert. The purpose of this blog is to get some awarness out there so you can make your own decision.

First, Some Definitions

wordpress.org are the creators of the original, open source version of wordpress.

wordpress.com is a hosting platform that uses their modified version of wordpress.

Jetpack is a plugin made by wordpress.com which allows self-hosted/wordpress.org users to connect their site with wordpress.com; this gives them lots of features.

What Does Jetpack Offer?

Jetpack is like multiple plugins rolled into one. Here are some of the features off the top of my head:

• Connects your wordpress.org website with your wordpress.com account
• Some security benifits (brute force attacks)
• Analytics
• Displays some "related posts" to readers
• Publishes your posts automatically to Facebook, Twitter...
• SEO benifits
• Use of their servers to preform the heavy duty stuff; this makes your site faster

There are many more features and if you're interested, it's one quick google search away.

So, What's The Problem?

The problem isn't with the plugin itself. It seems like a well written and secure plugin to me with many useful features. The thing that worries me are wordpress.com and Jetpack's terms.

In wordpress.com's Terms of Service, under Jetpack > Prohibited Uses, it states:

And inside of Jetpack’s Service Guidelines, we get some information about wordpress.com's reader. Here is a screenshot:

And finally, in User Guidelines (which is also linked to from the Terms of Service), this is stated:

This means if you use Jetpack, you CANNOT put advertisments on your website (such as Google Ads).

You can only use WordAds which is managed by wordpress.com.

And to even use WordAds with Jetpack, you need to pay the subscription for the premium or professional version of Jetpack.

But To Be Fair...

Jetpack's service guidelines basically says if you don't follow these terms related to worpress.com's reader, we can remove your site from the reader.

It doesn't talk about removing you completly from wordpress.com or Jetpack's features.

But since Jetpack is essentially wordpress.com, I personally don't want to be taking chances since I plan on managing my own advertisments.

I also haven't contacted wordpress.com about this to be absolutly sure, but what's stated in the terms seems pretty clear to me. Only WordAds are permitted on wordpress.com sites or Jetpack sites.

I'm sure everyone may have their own opions about this (and that's perfectly okay), and I'm not garenteeing my information is correct. I just hope this spreads some awarness.

Oh and if you don't care about managing your own advertisments or advertisments on your site at all, Jetpack may be a good plugin for you. Just make sure you read the terms and guidlines to make sure for yourself.

Cover image is used under the Pixabay License.