In reply to Sarah Gooding.

Sarah, while the follow-up is being researched and written, wouldn’t it be appropriate to insert a notice at the top of THIS article, stating that this is a developing story and that it has now been called into question whether there is any deception or trickery involved?

This article uses the word “deception” – that’s your word, not a quote. Deception, by definition, requires intent. It seems very clear at this point that it would be unreasonable to attribute an intent to deceive to this component of the plugin.

Under the “Defer selected JavaScript files” option, this looks to be a case of inadequate documentation. Although the on-screen instruction alongside the option DOES state it will exclude the script from page speed tests, it does not explain when or why you might want to do that. Under the “Defer using JavaScript” option, which is not a default option, this appears to be a bug.