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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “content blocker”

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 “content blocker”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Easy IP Blocker shows at wp.org #11 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 400+ 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

Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads places #8 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27820) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #5 ↑2 1 too low 5 IP2Location Country Blocker 20K+ · 4.1★ (128) wp.org #4 ↓1 1 too high 6 Secure Copy Content Protection and Content Locking 20K+ · 4.3★ (62) wp.org #6 ↓1 7 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #18 ↑6 10 too low 9 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Disabled Source, Disabled Right Click and Content Protection 10K+ · 4.9★ (103) wp.org #12 ↑2 2 too low 11 Advanced Country Blocker 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #10 ↓1 1 too high 12 Ads.txt Manager 100K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #22 ↓3 10 too low 13 Country Access Blocker 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓3 9 too low 15 WorkflowDone Geo Blocker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #13 ↓1 2 too high 16 Email and Domain Blocker for WooCommerce 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓1 1 too low 17 Zaygl IP blocker and anti-DDoS 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓3 4 too low 18 Easy IP Blocker 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 7 too high 19 Registration Email Blocker 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 IP & Country Blocker Lite 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 5 too high 21 Invalid Traffic Blocker 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Geo Blocker – Control Site Access by Region and IP 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too high 23 JetBlocker — Anti AdBlock & Revenue Recovery 30+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 S Smart Country Blocker 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓3

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.