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

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 “antispambot”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 7 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

WhoKnew Shield — Email, Phone & Address Security shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 30+ 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

Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers places #2 on merit, 4.9★ from 94 reviews, but shows at wp.org #7. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #4 3 too low 2 Email Encoder – Protect Email Addresses and Phone Numbers 90K+ · 4.9★ (94) wp.org #7 5 too low 3 Speed Contact Bar 4K+ · 4.6★ (56) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Pixeline’s Email Protector 900+ · 4.3★ (8) wp.org #2 2 too high 5 Email Address Obfuscation 2K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Slash Admin 500+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #8 2 too low 7 Anti-Spambot 500+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 WhoKnew Shield — Email, Phone & Address Security 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 R Rich Contact Widget 9K+ · 4.6★ (7) wp.org #15 6 too low 10 W WP-AntiSpambot 100+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 E Extended Antispambot 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 5 too high 12 T Template Tag Shortcodes 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #21 9 too low 13 Easy Anti Spam Bot 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 ArtistKit 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 WPC – Antispam Bot 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 3 too high 16 Calendas — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 3 too high 17 A Anti SpamBot Email Button 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 1 too high 18 M Menu Email Antispam 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 1 too high 19 S Safer Email Link 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 20 W wk-email-antibot 40+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 C Contact Blaster 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 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.