wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “amazon link engine”
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 link engine”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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
iTunes Link Engine shows at wp.org #8 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
Site Reviews places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 376 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.
Amazon Link Engine 2K+ · 4.4★ (31)
wp.org #1 2 
Duplicator – Backups & Migration Plugin – Cloud Backups, Scheduled Backups, & More 1M+ · 4.9★ (4940) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #2 3 
Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667)
wp.org #3 4 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8708)
wp.org #4 5 
ThirstyAffiliates – Affiliate Links, Link Branding, Link Tracking & Marketing Plugin 30K+ · 4.6★ (251)
wp.org #7 2 too low 6 
WP Offload Media Lite for Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, and Google Cloud Storage 30K+ · 3.7★ (115)
wp.org #5 1 too high 7 
BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85)
wp.org #9 2 too low 8 
W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420)
wp.org #14 6 too low 9 
Widgets for Amazon Reviews 2K+ · 4.0★ (45)
wp.org #6 3 too high 10 
Prevent Direct Access – Protect WordPress Files 10K+ · 4.6★ (297)
wp.org #17 ↑1 7 too low 11 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376)
wp.org #19 ↓3 8 too low 12 
WP Offload SES Lite 10K+ · 4.3★ (36)
wp.org #10 2 too high 13 
wpDataTables – WordPress Data Table, Dynamic Tables & Table Charts Plugin 60K+ · 4.5★ (449)
wp.org #24 ↓2 11 too low 14 
Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #20 6 too low 15 
Auto Affiliate Links 2K+ · 4.1★ (39)
wp.org #12 3 too high 16 
Inline Image Upload for BBPress 3K+ · 4.6★ (65)
wp.org #21 5 too low 17 
Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60)
wp.org #22 5 too low 18 
affiliate-toolkit – Multi-Network Affiliate & Amazon Product Display 2K+ · 4.5★ (22) throws errorsnot PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #11 7 too high 19 
Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (25)
wp.org #18 ↑1 1 too high 20 
Affiliate Links – Link Cloaking and Management 3K+ · 5.0★ (10) not PHP-current thin reviews
wp.org #13 7 too high 21 
Content Egg – Affiliate Product Importer & Price Comparison 10K+ · 3.9★ (56) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #23 2 too low 22 iTunes Link Engine 100+ · 4.0★ (4) thin reviews
wp.org #8 14 too high 23 
Check for Broken Links – Broken Link Checker & SEO Suite 1K+ · 4.0★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 ↑1 7 too high 24 
Document Engine – Document Library, PDF Viewer & Post to PDF 100+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #15 9 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.