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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “analytics audit”

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 “analytics audit”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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 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

DSGN Accessibility Audit and Statement shows at wp.org #13 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 20+ 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

WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 5209 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #1 2 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #9 ↑1 3 too low 7 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #10 ↓1 3 too low 8 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #11 3 too low 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 WP Mail SMTP by WPForms – SMTP for Reliable Email Delivery with Gmail, Outlook, Amazon SES, Brevo, Other SMTP & More 4M+ · 4.8★ (5209) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too low 11 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #16 ↑3 5 too low 12 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #6 6 too high 13 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #23 ↓2 10 too low 14 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #12 ↑5 2 too high 15 Agent Abilities for MCP – Connect Claude and ChatGPT with Permission Controls and Audit Log 800+ · 4.8★ (5) wp.org #8 7 too high 16 BoltAudit – Site Speed Audit and Performance Insights 90+ · 4.6★ (9) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 Royal MCP – Secure AI Connector for Claude, ChatGPT & any LLM via MCP 10K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #18 1 too low 18 Remote Website Management by Watchful 3K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #17 ↑3 1 too high 19 Kansleri Cookie Consent 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #20 ↑4 1 too low 20 Ubersuggest SEO Tools 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑2 1 too low 21 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #22 1 too low 22 0 Day Analytics 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 ↓9 2 too low 23 DSGN Accessibility Audit and Statement 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 10 too high 24 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑3 5 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.