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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “cookie bar”

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 “cookie bar”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 2 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

GDPR tools: Cookie notice + privacy shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 5K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 6 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) places #7 on merit, 4.9★ from 1199 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Cookie Bar 10K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #4 5 WPFront Notification Bar 40K+ · 4.5★ (131) wp.org #6 ↑1 1 too low 6 EU Cookies Bar for WordPress 9K+ · 4.8★ (26) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 My Sticky Bar – Floating Notification Bar & Sticky Header (formerly myStickymenu) 100K+ · 4.9★ (1199) wp.org #15 ↓6 8 too low 8 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too low 9 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too high 10 Debug Bar 20K+ · 4.1★ (69) wp.org #11 ↓3 1 too low 11 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Termly – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 80K+ · 3.6★ (204) wp.org #17 ↓4 5 too low 13 Mobile Contact Bar 9K+ · 4.6★ (30) wp.org #13 ↓1 14 Notibar – Notification Bar for WordPress 8K+ · 4.8★ (71) wp.org #24 ↓5 10 too low 15 HashBar – Announcement, Notification Bar & Popup Campaign 9K+ · 4.2★ (38) wp.org #16 ↓6 1 too low 16 GDPR tools: Cookie notice + privacy 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Kansleri Cookie Consent 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #9 ↑2 8 too high 18 ATR Cookie Notice 1K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 4 too high 19 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #18 1 too high 20 Legal Pages – Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, and Cookie Notice Generator 8K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #21 ↓4 1 too low 21 Notification Bar, Announcement and Cookie Notice WordPress Plugin – FooBar 3K+ · 4.8★ (10) wp.org #20 ↓5 1 too high 22 Civic Cookie Control 2K+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #19 ↑1 3 too high 23 Flexible Cookies 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #22 ↓6 1 too high 24 Notice Bar 700+ · 3.6★ (9) wp.org #23 ↓5 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.