Custom Referral Spam Blocker

How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.

Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.

wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.

4 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 1 listed. 3 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 4 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.

Directory rank

Ranked about #10,100 to #11,100, alongside the other plugins at 300+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.

How often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.

Share of active installs on each version of this plugin · 100% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.

Crossed into this band 19 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.

1. ★★★★★ baxter94

   8.8y ago

   This plugin turn my website to 502, don’t use it :X. This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by baxter94. This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by baxter94. This topic was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by baxter94.

   Read on wp.org ↗
2. ★★★★★ marti garaughty

   10.3y ago

   Great concept but unfortunately it’s not blocking all spam referral sites.

   Read on wp.org ↗
3. ★★★★★ Coalay

   10.5y ago

   Wished it worked, but it doesn’t. All of the referrer spam I get has long text strings after the domain name — which seems to circumvent the blocker. So far, it has NOT blocked: timebie.com mlizcochico.com gamezebo.com keywords-monitoring-your-success.com notify.bluecoat.com adishofdailylife.com wotbox.biz ana-white.com free-video-tool.com techvibes.com myhomeideas.com laurenconrad.com sociableblog.com grammarist.com netsidebar.com gingerhotels.com fhm.com bluecoat.com dobbersports.com mp3boo.cc Update: In response to the author’s comment(s) below, I have changed my rating to a “5” — BUT the plugin still does not work for me and I’m still getting referrer spam from the domains listed above. This is not “ghost spam”. We’re using Rackspace + Cloudflare + WPRocket. I realize that some plugins don’t anticipate users with premium assets and are more geared toward budget hosts and basic configurations, but all of the plugins that I use that are dependent on Cloudflare or caching have options in the plugin settings so that they all work together — regardless of whether or not the user has a cache or a CDN. So, I’ll check back again in a couple of months and try the plugin again.

   Read on wp.org ↗
4. ★★★★★ milprod

   10.5y ago

   Easy and effective.

   Read on wp.org ↗
5. ★★★★★ Michaelmcguinness

   10.8y ago

   This plugin redirected the spam bots away, never to come back. But there is one small in the fact that it also redirects t.co which is not spam but a twitter referral. If this problem was fixed it would perfect.

   Read on wp.org ↗
6. ★★★★★ csmicfool

   10.8y ago

   Spammers are immediately redirected away and do not foul analytics. List updates are pushed out very frequently.

   Read on wp.org ↗
7. ★★★★★ Anonymous

   10.9y ago

   Does one thing and does it right – this plugin BLOCKS REFERRAL SPAM! I couldn’t be happier with the regular updates to grow the database which, I believe is the largest in the known universe… Thanks for making a quality plugin.

   Read on wp.org ↗
8. ★★★★★ lajuana27

   10.9y ago
   Read on wp.org ↗

Translated into 1 language, 1 at 90% or more

Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.

This plugin’s searches fall outside the topics measured so far. See the topics measured so far.

Growth timeline

Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow

1. 2025-04-06 400+ → 300+ down after 184 days in tier
2. 2024-10-04 500+ → 400+ down after 357 days in tier
3. 2023-10-13 600+ → 500+ down after 184 days in tier
4. 2023-04-12 500+ → 600+ up after 110 days in tier
5. 2022-12-23 600+ → 500+ down after 212 days in tier
6. 2022-05-25 800+ → 600+ down after 454 days in tier
7. 2021-02-25 1K+ → 800+ down after 1546 days in tier
8. 2016-12-02 400+ → 1K+ up after 305 days in tier

Competes with

The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).

Embed this report card

Drop a live Pulse card for Custom Referral Spam Blocker into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.

Custom Referral Spam Blocker: 300+ active installs, 4.0★ (10 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-03. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/custom-referral-spam-blocker