Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

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

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 “ga”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard shows at wp.org #15 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 20K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.5★ average from 13 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End places #7 on merit, 4.8★ from 913 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 GA Google Analytics – Connect Google Analytics to WordPress 400K+ · 4.9★ (158) wp.org #1 2 Post Views Counter 100K+ · 4.9★ (1236) wp.org #3 ↑2 1 too low 3 GAinWP Google Analytics Integration for WP 7K+ · 4.8★ (126) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Disable Gutenberg 500K+ · 5.0★ (735) wp.org #4 5 AI Engine – MCP Server & AI Chatbot for WordPress, with Claude, ChatGPT & Gemini 90K+ · 4.9★ (874) wp.org #9 ↑9 4 too low 6 BBQ Firewall – Fast & Powerful Firewall Security 100K+ · 4.9★ (160) wp.org #7 ↑1 1 too low 7 User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End 10K+ · 4.8★ (913) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 TrueAna – True Analytics Dashboard 1K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #5 ↓2 3 too high 9 Disable Media Sizes 10K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #6 3 too high 10 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #16 ↓2 6 too low 11 Disable WP REST API 30K+ · 4.8★ (36) wp.org #12 ↑5 1 too low 12 Analytics Germanized for Google Analytics (GDPR / DSGVO) 7K+ · 4.5★ (27) wp.org #10 ↓1 2 too high 13 Goolytics – Simple Google Analytics 3K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #8 ↓1 5 too high 14 Disable WP Sitemaps 10K+ · 5.0★ (10) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Controls for Contact Form 7 (Redirects, Analytics & Tracking) 10K+ · 5.0★ (13) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Dashboard Widgets Suite 4K+ · 4.9★ (38) wp.org #22 ↓1 6 too low 17 Italy Cookie Choices (for EU Cookie Law & Cookie Notice) 9K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 Disable Lazy Load 9K+ · 4.5★ (23) wp.org #17 ↓4 1 too high 19 Simple Download Counter 2K+ · 4.9★ (19) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 WP Cron HTTP Auth 1K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #20 ↓1 21 Beehive Analytics – Google Analytics Dashboard 20K+ · 4.5★ (13) wp.org #15 ↓3 6 too high 22 Disable Application Passwords 3K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too high 23 Disable Responsive Images Complete 2K+ · 4.3★ (12) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 HTML Editor for Contact Form 7 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) 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.