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← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “banners widget”

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 “banners widget”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner shows at wp.org #4 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 400K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense places #10 on merit, 4.9★ from 1463 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #2 3 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 4 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7322) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 SiteOrigin Widgets Bundle 400K+ · 4.9★ (134) wp.org #7 ↑3 1 too low 7 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #9 ↓2 2 too low 8 Image Widget 100K+ · 4.9★ (287) wp.org #12 ↑1 4 too low 9 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #13 ↓1 4 too low 10 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #19 ↓2 9 too low 11 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 AccessiYes Accessibility Widget for ADA, EAA & WCAG Readiness 20K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too high 15 Void Contact Form 7 Widget For Elementor Page Builder 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #18 ↑1 3 too low 16 Vertical Timeline Widget for Elementor 10K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #16 17 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #21 ↑1 4 too low 18 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #17 ↑1 1 too high 19 Announcer – Sticky Message Banner & Notification Bar 10K+ · 4.8★ (40) wp.org #22 ↓1 3 too low 20 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 16 too high 21 Back Button Widget 4K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Widget Visibility Control 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #24 2 too low 23 AdOpt | Easy Multi-Regulations Cookie Banner. 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #23 24 Cookiez – GDPR & CCPA Cookie Banner & Consent Manager 50K+ · 4.3★ (4) wp.org #14 10 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.