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The Yoast CEO Marieke van de Rakt responded on Twitter: > That BlackFridayBanner was not the best idea. We’re truly sorry for the annoyance and difficulties it

The Yoast CEO Marieke van de Rakt responded on Twitter: > That BlackFridayBanner was not the best idea. We’re truly sorry for the annoyance and difficulties it may have caused. We did not think this through properly. If you want, you can update to a new version of our plugin without that banner. #blackfriday #neveragain #apologies"[1] > I OK'd this. I am the CEO. And I made a big mistake. I am sorry. [2] [1] https://twitter.com/MariekeRakt/status/1200077958700044290 https://twitter.com/MariekeRakt/status/1200077958700044290 [2] https://twitter.com/MariekeRakt/status/1200077958700044290 https://twitter.com/MariekeRakt/status/1200077958700044290

sleavey 7y ago
> "Truly sorry" I'd prefer it if CEOs would rather say "we got too greedy and clearly the market didn't like it" rather than disingenuous apologies.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 7y ago
  I have a lot more respect for a response that contains the words "sorry" and a statement that the entity admits that they made a mistake, vs. the usual corporate statement that contains neither.
  - momokoko 7y ago
    The apology is basically the modern version of that corporate statement.
- rchaud 7y ago
  An "I'm sorry" and "it was my call" are much more honest than the usual legal-approved CEO-speak that doesn't admit any fault, or justifies it with an un-provable statement like "many users have asked for this feature"
dazc 7y ago
Hardly the first time Yoast have been forced into an embarrassing climb-down. In the early days of mass Wordpress adoption they got a lot of traction by offering a plug-in that made few basic seo improvements and that early success went to their heads. Every iteration since has been a bloated mess of features, most of which are entirely unnecessary.
- LordAtlas 7y ago
  You know it's a bloated mess when there actually exist another plugin to hide all the bloat that Yoast adds. I kid you not. https://wordpress.org/plugins/so-clean-up-wp-seo/ https://wordpress.org/plugins/so-clean-up-wp-seo/
csunbird 7y ago
It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I doubt the company or the CEO actually cares at all.
simonswords82 7y ago
"There but for the grace of god go I" In other words, we all make mistakes in our businesses. Some of them are more obvious to the outside world than others. This one was a pretty serious cock up. I admire her for owning it and saying sorry. Plus they fixed it pretty quickly.

sleavey 7y ago

> "Truly sorry" I'd prefer it if CEOs would rather say "we got too greedy and clearly the market didn't like it" rather than disingenuous apologies.

tgsovlerkhgsel 7y ago
I have a lot more respect for a response that contains the words "sorry" and a statement that the entity admits that they made a mistake, vs. the usual corporate statement that contains neither.
- momokoko 7y ago
  The apology is basically the modern version of that corporate statement.
rchaud 7y ago
An "I'm sorry" and "it was my call" are much more honest than the usual legal-approved CEO-speak that doesn't admit any fault, or justifies it with an un-provable statement like "many users have asked for this feature"

dazc 7y ago

Hardly the first time Yoast have been forced into an embarrassing climb-down. In the early days of mass Wordpress adoption they got a lot of traction by offering a plug-in that made few basic seo improvements and that early success went to their heads. Every iteration since has been a bloated mess of features, most of which are entirely unnecessary.

LordAtlas 7y ago
You know it's a bloated mess when there actually exist another plugin to hide all the bloat that Yoast adds. I kid you not. https://wordpress.org/plugins/so-clean-up-wp-seo/ https://wordpress.org/plugins/so-clean-up-wp-seo/

csunbird 7y ago

It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. I doubt the company or the CEO actually cares at all.

simonswords82 7y ago

"There but for the grace of god go I" In other words, we all make mistakes in our businesses. Some of them are more obvious to the outside world than others. This one was a pretty serious cock up. I admire her for owning it and saying sorry. Plus they fixed it pretty quickly.