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

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 “ftc”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 4 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

Affiliate Product Ads for Amazon shows at wp.org #15 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 4 places. Its 80+ 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 BetterLinks – Link Shortener, Link Cloaking, Redirects, Affiliate Link Manager & MCP 20K+ · 4.8★ (85) wp.org #2 ↑1 1 too low 2 Privacy Policy Generator, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, Cookie Policy & Disclaimer Templates – WPLP Legal Pages 10K+ · 4.7★ (93) wp.org #4 ↑1 2 too low 3 MWW Disclaimer Buttons 400+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #1 2 too high 4 Legal Pages – Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions, GDPR, CCPA, and Cookie Notice Generator 8K+ · 4.3★ (29) wp.org #6 2 too low 5 WP Affiliate Disclosure 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↓1 2 too high 6 Disclaimify – Affiliate Disclosure / Disclaimer for WordPress 400+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #5 ↓1 1 too high 7 My Newsletter 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #16 ↓2 9 too low 8 Royal Links – Affiliate Link Cloaking, Shortener & Tracker 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 ↑1 9 LinkGenius – Affiliate Link Manager and Link Shortener 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 AffiStyle – Affiliate Product Cards & Box Builder — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 11 ProductLinker for Amazon 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 12 Affiliate Notice Manager 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 ↓1 3 too high 13 Doozly Affiliate Box for Amazon 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑3 1 too high 14 Affiliate Disclosure for WooCommerce 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↓2 1 too high 15 Subnotice — Subscription Compliance Checker (UK/US/EU) — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 ↓1 2 too low 16 ChiroRank™ – Chiropractic SEO Tools — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓1 2 too low 17 Review Next for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too high 18 AWO — Automatic Website Optimizer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 1 too low 19 Affiliate Product Ads for Amazon 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #15 ↓2 4 too high 20 Klarvo Access – Accessibility Fixes for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Boostly – Conversion & Sales Booster for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓1 22 AsafAmos Accessibility Scanner — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 23 Affiliate Disclosure – Auto Customizable Affiliate Links Disclaimer — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 ↓3 24 HWG Check — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

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.