Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “amazon ads”

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 “amazon ads”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Advanced Ads for WPBakery Page Builder shows at wp.org #4 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 18 places. Its 1K+ 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

OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 327 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. 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 #1 2 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #2 3 Amazon Link Engine 2K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #3 4 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – CTX Feed – Support 220+ Shopping, AI & Social Channels 90K+ · 4.6★ (838) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #12 ↑7 6 too low 7 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #15 ↓2 8 too low 8 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 Email Marketing for WooCommerce by Omnisend 40K+ · 4.9★ (169) wp.org #18 ↑4 9 too low 10 OAuth Single Sign On – SSO (OAuth Client) 6K+ · 4.9★ (327) wp.org #20 ↓3 10 too low 11 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – RexFeed – Sell on 200+ Shopping Channels 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #9 ↓1 4 too high 14 WebToffee WooCommerce Product Feeds – Google Shopping, Pinterest, TikTok Ads, & More 2K+ · 4.8★ (27) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too high 15 Seriously Simple Podcasting 20K+ · 4.7★ (330) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Pixel Cat – Conversion Pixel Manager 40K+ · 4.0★ (41) wp.org #16 ↑2 17 WPMR Google Feed Manager for WooCommerce – Sell on Google Merchant Center & Shopping 10K+ · 4.5★ (127) wp.org #23 ↑1 6 too low 18 WP AdCenter – Ad Manager & Adsense Ads 900+ · 4.5★ (10) wp.org #17 ↓2 1 too high 19 Ad Commander – Ad Manager for Banners, AdSense, Ad Networks 200+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Actirise – Advertising & Monetization 200+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #24 4 too low 21 Ads for Genesis 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 15 too high 22 Advanced Ads for WPBakery Page Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 18 too high 23 AdPresso – The Modern Ad Manager for AdSense, Banners & Ad Tracking 40+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #19 ↑1 4 too high 24 UniConsent Cookie Consent CMP – Consent Manager 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #22 ↑1 2 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.