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

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 policy”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 4 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

GetTerms Cookie Consent & Policies shows at wp.org #17 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 7 places. Its 1K+ 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.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #3 ↓1 4 Cookie Compliance for WordPress – Cookie Consent, GDPR & CCPA 800K+ · 4.8★ (3026) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 TermsFeed AutoTerms: Privacy Policy Generator, Cookie Consent, GDPR, CCPA, Terms & Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookies Policy, EULA 70K+ · 4.7★ (246) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Real Cookie Banner: GDPR & ePrivacy Cookie Consent 100K+ · 4.9★ (492) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 iubenda | All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CCPA Cookie Consent + more 200K+ · 4.7★ (397) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #8 ↓1 1 too high 10 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #12 ↑1 1 too low 12 Cookies and Content Security Policy 10K+ · 4.9★ (67) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Pressidium Cookie Consent 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #11 ↓1 3 too high 15 Beautiful Cookie Consent Banner 40K+ · 4.5★ (95) wp.org #22 ↓4 7 too low 16 WF Cookie Consent 10K+ · 5.0★ (27) wp.org #20 ↓3 4 too low 17 Termly – GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 80K+ · 3.6★ (204) wp.org #24 ↓5 7 too low 18 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #18 19 Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform 1K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #23 ↓3 4 too low 20 Kansleri Cookie Consent 1K+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 GDPR tools: Cookie notice + privacy 5K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 6 too high 22 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓5 1 too high 23 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #19 ↑4 4 too high 24 GetTerms Cookie Consent & Policies 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓2 7 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.