Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “advertise”

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 “advertise”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 8 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

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 it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Snack Ads.txt shows at wp.org #11 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 12 places. Its 100+ 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

Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1087 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Meow Mailer – Free SMTP, Everything Included 900+ · 5.0★ (25) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing & Member Directories for WordPress 10K+ · 4.6★ (504) wp.org #5 ↑6 2 too low 4 Show only lowest prices in variable products for WooCommerce 6K+ · 4.8★ (28) wp.org #3 ↑1 1 too high 5 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #7 ↑2 2 too low 6 WPC Smart Wishlist for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too high 7 WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) wp.org #10 ↑2 3 too low 8 Getwid – Gutenberg Blocks 50K+ · 4.7★ (115) wp.org #17 ↑1 9 too low 9 StoreCustomizer – A plugin to Customize all WooCommerce Pages 20K+ · 4.8★ (127) wp.org #20 11 too low 10 Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) wp.org #23 13 too low 11 MyRewards 2K+ · 4.7★ (58) wp.org #18 ↑2 7 too low 12 WC Vendors – WooCommerce Multivendor, WooCommerce Marketplace, Product Vendors 3K+ · 4.5★ (188) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 LLM Markdown – Markdown Endpoints for AI Agents 700+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 ↓2 5 too high 14 Banner Management For WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.5★ (26) wp.org #13 ↑1 1 too high 15 AI Powered Marketing 50K+ · 2.7★ (29) wp.org #6 ↑1 9 too high 16 Block Referer Spam 500+ · 3.4★ (21) wp.org #9 ↓1 7 too high 17 Proxy Cache Purge 50K+ · 4.4★ (26) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Accept PayPal & Stripe with Subscriptions for WooCommerce 2K+ · 4.8★ (9) wp.org #12 ↑1 7 too high 20 Mergado Pack 700+ · 3.6★ (17) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 TikTok 200K+ · 1.8★ (39) wp.org #21 ↑1 22 Stop Search Spam 80+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 3 too high 23 Snack Ads.txt 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 too high 24 Image Slider Slideshow 2K+ · 4.0★ (2) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.