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

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 “gcm”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 9 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

AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot shows at wp.org #4 but places #10 on merit, a gap of 6 places. Its 2K+ 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 WPVibe – MCP Server for WordPress, works with Claude, ChatGPT & other AI MCP agents 100K+ · 5.0★ (199) wp.org #1 2 Easy MCP AI – Connect Claude to WordPress: MCP Server for ChatGPT & AI Agents 30K+ · 4.9★ (16) wp.org #2 3 Pressidium Cookie Consent 10K+ · 4.7★ (40) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 Better Messages – Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots 10K+ · 4.8★ (142) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 PushAlert – Web Push Notifications for WordPress and WooCommerce 1K+ · 4.6★ (8) wp.org #7 2 too low 6 MaxtDesign Cookie Consent – Google Consent Mode v2 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #6 7 Capsquery Facial Authentication 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 2 too low 8 HuxxConnect – REST API Connector for WordPress 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Segurium – Free Malware Removal & Auto Cleanup for Hacked Websites, Antivirus Scanner, Vulnerability Alerts 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 AI Marketing Expert — AI Email Marketing, AI Content Generator, SEO Analyzer, AI Workflow Automation, Social Media & Ai Chatbot 2K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #4 ↓1 6 too high 11 HelpJet – AI Support Chatbot Trained on Your Website & Docs 100+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #13 2 too low 12 Peak Publisher 10+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #24 12 too low 13 Trinity Backup – Backup, Migrate, Restore, Clone & Schedule Backups 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 BaseCloud UTM Tracker 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↓1 3 too low 15 WhoKnew Signal – Self-Hosted Web Push Notifications & PWA 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #21 6 too low 16 Pay4All Age Verification – For WooCommerce & Pay4All Shop 70+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 2 too high 17 SpamAnvil – AI Anti-Spam & Comment Spam Protection 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↓2 6 too high 18 AuthenticSender 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 Fast2SMS – OTP Login & SMS Notifications 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↑1 3 too high 20 1 Click Form Sync for Elementor Forms, WPForms and Google Sheets — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 21 AutoArticle Content Generator 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 WordSocket — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 4 too high 23 Signclave – SSO for SAML and LDAP — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 4 too high 24 DigiConsent – Cookie Consent Banner for GDPR, CCPA & ePrivacy Compliance 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #22 2 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.