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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “geo ip”

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 “geo ip”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 of the top 20. 3 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

IP Address Approval shows at wp.org #8 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.7★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall places #9 on merit, 4.5★ from 373 reviews, but shows at wp.org #24. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Advanced IP Blocker 3K+ · 4.9★ (27) wp.org #1 2 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 IP Location Block 10K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #4 1 too high 6 Defender Security – Malware Scanner, Login Security & Firewall 80K+ · 4.8★ (334) wp.org #7 1 too low 7 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #11 4 too low 8 Blackhole for Bad Bots 30K+ · 4.7★ (148) wp.org #14 ↓2 6 too low 9 Hide My WP Ghost – Security & Firewall 100K+ · 4.5★ (373) wp.org #24 15 too low 10 Redirection 2M+ · 4.4★ (703) wp.org #21 ↓2 11 too low 11 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 Geo Controller – Geolocation & Geotargeting 1K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #13 ↓5 1 too low 13 Trace My IP – Visitor IP Tracker, Stats Analytics & Page Views Counter with Email Alerts 1K+ · 4.5★ (21) wp.org #10 ↑1 3 too high 14 IP Geolocation 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑1 9 too high 15 FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce 50K+ · 4.4★ (250) wp.org #23 ↓9 8 too low 16 Geo Redirect 1K+ · 4.3★ (11) wp.org #12 ↓3 4 too high 17 WorkflowDone Geo Blocker 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↑1 8 too high 18 Geo Content 100+ · 4.8★ (8) wp.org #22 ↓5 4 too low 19 GEO Suite – AI SEO, llms.txt & Schema – Octoplug 60+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↑6 1 too high 20 CookieAdmin – Cookie Consent Banner 400K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #15 ↑1 5 too high 21 IP Address Approval 100+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #8 13 too high 22 Geo Blocker – Control Site Access by Region and IP 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #17 ↓4 5 too high 23 MatrixMap – Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, Store Locator & World Maps 200+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↑3 4 too high 24 DevDome Redirect Manager: Link Rotator, Geo Redirect & 302 Redirect 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 4 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.