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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google content experiment”

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 “google content experiment”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 5 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

WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments shows at wp.org #10 but places #18 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 800K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.4★ average from 177 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 361 reviews, but shows at wp.org #17. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Ultimate Addons for Elementor – Widgets, Templates, WooCommerce & Header Footer Builder 2M+ · 4.9★ (2528) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too low 4 Nelio A/B Testing – AB Tests and Heatmaps for Better Conversion Optimization 4K+ · 4.8★ (99) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 AI 60K+ · 4.2★ (10) wp.org #2 3 too high 6 10Web Booster – Website speed optimization, Cache & Page Speed optimizer 60K+ · 4.6★ (405) wp.org #13 7 too low 7 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 Content Pilot – Autoblogging & Affiliate Marketing Suite 700+ · 3.6★ (36) wp.org #4 4 too high 9 PowerPack Addons for Elementor: Widgets, Form Styler and Templates 70K+ · 4.8★ (361) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 WPLP Cookie Consent – Cookie Banner & Consent Management for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 9K+ · 4.6★ (51) wp.org #8 ↓1 2 too high 11 Quick Adsense 20K+ · 3.9★ (74) wp.org #11 12 Website LLMs.txt 50K+ · 4.7★ (12) wp.org #7 ↓1 5 too high 13 Embed Plus for YouTube Gallery, Livestream and Lazy Loading with Facades 100K+ · 4.6★ (572) wp.org #24 ↓1 11 too low 14 Jetpack VaultPress Backup 20K+ · 4.5★ (35) wp.org #12 2 too high 15 Personizely — A/B Testing, Personalization, Popups & CRO 300+ · 4.8★ (25) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Affiliate Coupons – Coupon Display Manager – Excellent Tool for Affiliate Marketers 1K+ · 4.5★ (36) wp.org #16 17 AdUnblocker 200+ · 4.8★ (32) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 WooPayments: Integrated WooCommerce Payments 800K+ · 3.4★ (177) wp.org #10 8 too high 19 Magazine Blocks – Blog Designer, Magazine & Newspaper Website Builder, Page Builder with Posts Blocks, Post Grid 6K+ · 4.9★ (11) wp.org #15 4 too high 20 The Innovative Form Builder – IvyForms 1K+ · 5.0★ (9) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 Stratum Widgets for Elementor 20K+ · 4.5★ (12) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 Visibility – Lightweight SEO, AEO and GEO for Search and AI 600+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Opti-Behavior – Self-Hosted Heatmaps, Funnels, A/B Testing & Smart Insights 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #23 24 FooConvert – AI Popup Builder for Flyouts, Overlays & Bars 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #21 ↑1 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.