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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “economic data”

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 “economic data”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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

MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps shows at wp.org #13 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 200+ 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 #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 2433 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Visualizer – Tables & Charts Manager with Built-in AI Generator 20K+ · 4.4★ (225) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Invisible Anti-Spam & CAPTCHA — reCAPTCHA Alternative for All Forms 5K+ · 4.8★ (50) wp.org #5 2 too low 4 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #22 18 too low 5 Economic & Market News 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 TaxJar – Sales Tax Automation for WooCommerce 5K+ · 2.6★ (28) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Payment Gateway of Stripe for WooCommerce 7K+ · 4.4★ (66) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Amazon Pay for WooCommerce 10K+ · 2.5★ (27) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 WPSmartPay – Payment Forms, Invoices, Donations & Subscriptions 100+ · 4.7★ (18) wp.org #19 10 too low 10 Stock Quotes List 500+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #10 11 Stockdio Historical Chart 800+ · 3.9★ (7) wp.org #8 3 too high 12 Precious Metals Product Prices for WooCommerce 100+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 13 Stock Market News 400+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #6 7 too high 14 Stock Market Overview 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #9 5 too high 15 Vunelix Financial Widgets – Cryptocurrency, Stock Ticker & Forex 20+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #11 4 too high 16 ZZAZZ 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 1 too low 17 consentmanager Cookie Banner 5K+ · 2.6★ (10) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 Rooster One 10+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 Anrok Tax for WooCommerce 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 Pyzia Charts — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 4 too high 21 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 Relqor — Gateway for Up2pay e-Transactions — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 WebDiagnosis Site Audit 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 HUP – Indicadores Económicos (Chile) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.