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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “best maps”

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 “best maps”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 of the top 20. 3 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

Block for Apple Maps shows at wp.org #7 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 4699 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 Mapster WP Maps 3K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #1 2 Maps Widget for Google Maps 20K+ · 4.6★ (512) wp.org #2 3 HTML5 Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (45) wp.org #3 4 Product Feed Manager for WooCommerce – RexFeed – Sell on 200+ Shopping Channels 10K+ · 4.8★ (256) wp.org #4 ↑2 5 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #9 4 too low 6 Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce by AdTribes – Product Feeds for WooCommerce 80K+ · 4.7★ (1071) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too low 7 Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 Maps Plugin using Google Maps for WordPress – WP Google Map 10K+ · 4.8★ (172) wp.org #11 ↑1 3 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #10 1 too low 10 W3 Total Cache 900K+ · 4.4★ (5420) wp.org #14 4 too low 11 Leaflet Maps Marker (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Bing Maps) 9K+ · 4.6★ (244) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Website Builder by SeedProd — Theme Builder, Landing Page Builder, Coming Soon Page, Maintenance Mode 600K+ · 4.9★ (4699) wp.org #20 ↑2 8 too low 13 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #18 ↑2 5 too low 14 exovia GDPR Google Maps 4K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #5 ↓1 9 too high 15 Floating Chat Widget: Contact Chat Icons, Telegram Chat, Line Messenger, WeChat, Email, SMS, Call Button – Chaty 300K+ · 5.0★ (1244) wp.org #23 8 too low 16 Fluent Forms – Customizable Contact Forms, Survey, Quiz, & Conversational Form Builder 800K+ · 4.8★ (807) wp.org #21 5 too low 17 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 Otter Blocks – Gutenberg Blocks, Page Builder for Gutenberg Editor & FSE 300K+ · 4.7★ (251) wp.org #22 ↑2 4 too low 19 Basic Google Maps Placemarks 2K+ · 4.4★ (51) wp.org #12 7 too high 20 Image Hotspot – Map Image Annotation 3K+ · 4.9★ (22) wp.org #17 ↑1 3 too high 21 Interactive Image Map Builder 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #19 ↑1 2 too high 22 Vision – Interactive Image Map with Hotspots Builder 2K+ · 4.9★ (9) wp.org #16 ↑1 6 too high 23 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #15 8 too high 24 Block for Apple Maps 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 17 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.