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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “adblock plus”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “adblock plus”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

JetBlocker — Anti AdBlock & Revenue Recovery shows at wp.org #5 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 30+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 5333 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 MailOptin – Popup, Optin Forms & Email Newsletters for Mailchimp, HubSpot, AWeber Etc. 10K+ · 4.8★ (438) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #8 ↑11 5 too low 4 Admiral Adblock Analytics 300+ · 3.5★ (12) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 CHP Ads Block Detector 800+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #3 2 too high 6 Customer Engagement System – Popup Builder, Forms, CRM & Email Marketing Automation 9K+ · 4.5★ (340) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too low 7 Social Media Share Buttons & Social Sharing Icons 100K+ · 4.8★ (5333) wp.org #22 ↓1 15 too low 8 Custom Sidebars – Dynamic Sidebar Classic Widget Area Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (1028) wp.org #21 ↓1 13 too low 9 BotBlocker Security – Complete security platform 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Eazy Ad Unblocker 100+ · 4.0★ (11) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 Movie Engine – OTT Streaming Platform for Movies & TV Series 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #11 12 Gotham Block Extra Light 30+ · 3.2★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 Instant Popup Builder – Popup Maker for Videos, Forms, Offers, Announcements, Galleries & Exit Intent 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #18 ↓2 5 too low 14 Popular Brand Icons – Simple Icons 3K+ · 4.7★ (10) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 Monetag Official Plugin 5K+ · 2.5★ (13) wp.org #14 ↓2 1 too high 16 Detect Missing Adblocker 50+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #13 ↓2 3 too high 17 JetBlocker — Anti AdBlock & Revenue Recovery 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 12 too high 18 Tiny Simple AdBlock Detector 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 11 too high 19 Atomic Addons – AI Website Builder for Elementor & WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 DeBlocker Plus — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓2 5 too high 21 AntiAdBlockCore – AdBlock Recovery — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too high 22 WPSP Ad Blocker Alert — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 CaphLabs – Advanced Ad Blocker Fence — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓2 3 too high 24 Spårlös Analytics: Privacy-Friendly Google Analytics Alternative — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓1 1 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.