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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “embed”

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 “embed”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 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

Embed Optimizer shows at wp.org #6 but places #23 on merit, a gap of 17 places. Its 50K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress places #10 on merit, 4.7★ from 529 reviews, but shows at wp.org #16. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Embed PDF Viewer 20K+ · 4.7★ (19) wp.org #1 ↑2 2 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #5 ↑1 3 too low 3 Embed Privacy 10K+ · 4.9★ (26) wp.org #3 ↓2 4 TablePress – Tables in WordPress made easy 600K+ · 5.0★ (4625) wp.org #9 ↑5 5 too low 5 Embed Any Document – Embed PDF, Word, PowerPoint and Excel Files 50K+ · 4.2★ (92) wp.org #4 ↑1 1 too high 6 Pdf Embed 10K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #2 ↑2 4 too high 7 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #7 ↑1 8 DearFlip – PDF Flipbook, 3D Flipbook, PDF embed, PDF viewer 200K+ · 4.9★ (194) wp.org #10 ↓8 2 too low 9 Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder 10M+ · 4.5★ (7323) wp.org #11 ↑4 2 too low 10 PDF Embedder – PDF Viewer & Embed PDF Files for WordPress 300K+ · 4.7★ (529) wp.org #16 ↓6 6 too low 11 Code Embed 10K+ · 4.4★ (45) wp.org #8 ↑1 3 too high 12 Embed YouTube Block – Fast Loading Videos, Shorts & Playlists 6K+ · 5.0★ (16) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too low 13 Wonder PDF Embed 8K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #12 ↑5 1 too high 14 EMC – Embed Calendly Scheduling With Ease 10K+ · 4.8★ (14) wp.org #15 ↓3 1 too low 15 PowerBI Embed Reports 500+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #22 ↓2 7 too low 16 Disable Embeds 10K+ · 4.3★ (20) wp.org #21 ↓2 5 too low 17 Simple YouTube Embed 4K+ · 4.2★ (15) wp.org #17 ↓4 18 Interact Quiz & Form Embed 3K+ · 4.6★ (11) wp.org #18 19 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #14 5 too high 20 Embed Google Photos album 3K+ · 4.4★ (15) wp.org #23 ↓2 3 too low 21 G Github Embed 1K+ · 3.9★ (14) wp.org #24 ↓2 3 too low 22 Embed Lottie Player – bring your pages to life with animation 4K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #20 ↓2 2 too high 23 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #6 ↑1 17 too high 24 PDF Embed Block – share documents right inside your posts 4K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #19 ↓3 5 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.