Referer Spam Blocker
by WP Maintainer · Blocks
Also makes 2 other plugins · 90+ installs across the portfolio →
Block/blacklist known (and custom) spam referring domains at the WordPress level with an HTTP 403 Forbidden page.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 44/100
Stale · Likely abandoned · Few reviews
Active installs
60+
≈69 estimated
Momentum
-10%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: One page off on “referer spam”. #11 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
44 health vs 71 average across 2,523 Blocks plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →1.4%
of downloads still active
At least 60 of 4.2K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median Blocks plugin keeps 2.1%, across 1,578 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Blocks plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
Removal-risk signals
51/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 3+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- No tested-up-to version. The listing declares no "Tested up to" version.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 1188 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
No "Tested up to" declared, treated as a major version behind
3.0★ over 2 reviews, smoothed to 4.06★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 1188 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →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.
42
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 16d
33%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 16d
-0.7
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
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.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| referer spam your tag | #11 | #20 | up 1 |
| referer your tag | #17 | #24 | 0 |
| http referer | #19 | #24 | down 2 |
| block your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| domain your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| spam your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
4 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 3 listed. 1 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 3 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- One page off on “referer spam”. #11 puts you just past the first ten results, where almost all the clicks stop. The gap to close is small.
- “block”, “domain” and “spam” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,487 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 188 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #19,100 to #20,000, alongside the other plugins at 60+ 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 21 Oct 2026.
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
Downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites.
Not enough installs to measure. This needs at least 100 active sites; below that, a handful of downloads reads as tens of thousands.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
3.3y ago
latest release · v0.4 · 31 Jul 2023
2
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare 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.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “60+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 53 days ago and a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, so the real count is still just under 70.
Install history since 21 Sep 2015
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.4.8 · WP 6.0.3
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 30 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Block/blacklist known (and custom) spam referring domains at the WordPress level with an HTTP 403 Forbidden..."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Google Analytics.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 440 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ✓ Tags match the text All 5 tags appear in the text.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2026-09-08 70+ → 60+ down after 8 days in tier
- 2026-08-31 60+ → 70+ up after 24 days in tier
- 2026-08-07 70+ → 60+ down after 38 days in tier
- 2026-06-30 60+ → 70+ up after 2 days in tier
- 2026-06-28 70+ → 60+ down after 1 days in tier
- 2026-06-27 60+ → 70+ up after 1 days in tier
- 2026-06-26 70+ → 60+ down after 2 days in tier
- 2026-06-24 60+ → 70+ up after 1 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).
-
Email Address Encoder 100K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B -
Block Specific Spam Woo Orders 1K+ installs · 4.4★ · 2 shared tags B -
Akismet Anti-spam: Spam Protection 5M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Spectra Legacy – Gutenberg Blocks 1M+ installs · 4.7★ · 1 shared tag A -
Breadcrumb NavXT 800K+ installs · 4.5★ · 1 shared tag A -
Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag A
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Referer Spam Blocker into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/referer-spam-blocker" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Referer Spam Blocker — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Referer Spam Blocker: 60+ active installs, 3.0★ (2 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/referer-spam-blocker
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