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

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 “geolocation”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 15 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 Geolocation shows at wp.org #6 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 16 places. Its 200+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder places #4 on merit, 4.9★ from 4514 reviews, but shows at wp.org #15. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Geolocation IP Detection 20K+ · 4.7★ (59) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143) wp.org #8 ↓2 6 too low 3 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #10 ↓2 7 too low 4 Popup Maker – Boost Sales, Conversions, Optins, Subscribers with the Ultimate WP Popup Builder 600K+ · 4.9★ (4514) wp.org #15 ↓4 11 too low 5 HivePress Geolocation 6K+ · 4.5★ (2) wp.org #1 4 too high 6 Newsletter – Send awesome emails from WordPress 200K+ · 4.6★ (1205) wp.org #9 ↑13 3 too low 7 Limit Login Attempts Security – Login Security, 2FA, Firewall, Brute Force Prevention 1M+ · 4.8★ (1488) wp.org #13 ↓6 6 too low 8 If-So Geolocation 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Ultra Addons for Contact Form 7 60K+ · 4.8★ (107) wp.org #12 ↑1 3 too low 10 Geo Controller – Geolocation & Geotargeting 1K+ · 4.4★ (31) wp.org #7 3 too high 11 Price Based on Country for WooCommerce 20K+ · 4.8★ (262) wp.org #11 ↓2 12 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #19 7 too low 13 SlimStat Analytics – Real-Time Stats, Heatmaps & Ecommerce 70K+ · 4.8★ (816) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too low 14 Geolocation 300+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #5 ↑7 9 too high 15 If-So Dynamic Content – Elementor & All Page Builders Personalization 7K+ · 4.7★ (92) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too low 16 EmbedPress 100K+ · 4.8★ (307) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 IP2Location Country Blocker 30K+ · 4.1★ (128) wp.org #16 ↓6 1 too high 18 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #23 ↓2 5 too low 19 Track Geolocation Of Users Using Contact Form 7 800+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #4 ↑1 15 too high 20 Zero Spam for WordPress 20K+ · 4.1★ (143) wp.org #17 ↑3 3 too high 21 IP2Location Redirection 7K+ · 4.3★ (43) wp.org #20 ↓3 1 too high 22 IP Geolocation 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #6 ↓2 16 too high 23 Termageddon: Cookie Consent & Privacy Compliance 8K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #22 ↓3 1 too high 24 Lightweight Cookie Notice – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent 5K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 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.