Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “advertiser”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 2 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

Tabby Checkout shows at wp.org #7 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 4K+ 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

WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode places #12 on merit, 4.6★ from 51 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 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #2 ↑2 1 too low 2 Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) 200K+ · 4.9★ (186) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #12 ↓7 8 too low 5 Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 Ezoic 10K+ · 3.3★ (53) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too high 7 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #16 ↑3 9 too low 8 Pressidium Cookie Consent 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #13 5 too low 9 Advanced Classifieds & Directory Pro 2K+ · 4.7★ (96) wp.org #18 9 too low 10 Track The Click 7K+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Awin – Advertiser Tracking for WooCommerce 1K+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #1 10 too high 12 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #23 ↓1 10 too low 14 Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #21 ↓1 7 too low 15 HM Multiple Roles 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 TikTok 200K+ · 1.8★ (39) wp.org #10 ↑2 6 too high 17 Ad Commander – Ad Manager for Banners, AdSense, Ad Networks 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #15 ↓1 3 too high 19 Daisycon prijsvergelijkers 400+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #11 8 too high 20 Cool Author Box – For Widget and Post Content 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 ↓4 21 Tabby Checkout 4K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 ↑1 14 too high 22 Chicory Shoppable Recipes 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 linkPizza-Manager 700+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #9 ↑1 14 too high 24 HM Resume Manager 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24

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.