wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “browser miner”

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 “browser miner”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 16. 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 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

DaazMarkets — Global Market Prices shows at wp.org #4 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 10+ installs carry it up the search order; its 0.0★ average from 0 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

merit plugin signals wp.org

Accordion FAQ – Compatible With All Page Builder (Elementor, Gutenberg) 30K+ · 4.6★ (676) wp.org #3 2 too low 2

Atlant Security 700+ · 5.0★ (8) thin reviews wp.org #1 1 too high 3

Coming Soon Page & Maintenance Mode 2K+ · 4.8★ (129) stale but ranked wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4

Virusdie | One-click website security 2K+ · 4.0★ (9) thin reviews wp.org #2 2 too high 5

Extra Fees for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.3★ (42) throws errorsnot PHP-current wp.org #11 6 too low 6

WebDefender Security – Protection & AntiSpam 1K+ · 4.0★ (18) not PHP-current thin reviews wp.org #12 6 too low 7

Night Eye – Dark Mode Plugin 50+ · 5.0★ (8) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #13 6 too low 8

DaazMarkets — Global Market Prices 10+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #4 4 too high 9

Shortcode Arcade Crypto Idle Game — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviewslow rating, top placement wp.org #5 4 too high 10

MarketBasketAnalysis for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #7 ↑1 3 too high 11

ATV Web Security — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #8 ↓2 3 too high 12

CodeWP Shield Monitor 50+ · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #9 3 too high 13

Hippius Media Offloader — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #10 3 too high 14

ChainCheckout – Crypto Payment Gateway for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) thin reviews wp.org #14 15 M Monero (XMR) miner – Moonify 10+ · 0.0★ (0) not PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #16 1 too low 16

SpareChange – A Miner for your Website 10+ · 3.3★ (4) throws errorsnot PHP-currentclosure risk thin reviews wp.org #15 1 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.