wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “google jobs”
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 jobs”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 13 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 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
VK Google Job Posting Manager shows at wp.org #2 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 20 places. Its 2K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 4.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.
Buried gem
WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #11 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 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.
XML Sitemap Generator for Google 1M+ · 4.8★ (2233)
wp.org #1 2 
Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7520)
wp.org #3 1 too low 3 
Ultimate Member – User Profile, Registration, Login, Member Directory, Content Restriction & Membership Plugin 200K+ · 4.4★ (1445)
wp.org #6 ↑1 3 too low 4 
Simple Job Board 10K+ · 4.7★ (133) throws errorsnot PHP-current
wp.org #4 ↑1 5 
Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google 20K+ · 4.7★ (47)
wp.org #5 ↑1 6 
HireZoot – Job Listings, Career Page & Recruitment Tool 30K+ · 4.8★ (194)
wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 
Job Postings 10K+ · 4.4★ (58)
wp.org #8 1 too low 8 
WP All Import – Drag & Drop Import for CSV, XML, Excel & Google Sheets 100K+ · 4.7★ (1966)
wp.org #19 ↑1 11 too low 9 
JobWP – Job Board Plugin for WordPress | Job Listings, Career Page & Applications 1K+ · 5.0★ (20) thin reviews
wp.org #7 ↑4 2 too high 10 
UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706)
wp.org #21 11 too low 11 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387)
wp.org #24 ↓1 13 too low 12 
Analytify – Google Analytics 4 Tracking and Reporting in WordPress 20K+ · 4.7★ (488)
wp.org #20 ↓6 8 too low 13 
Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2143)
wp.org #22 9 too low 14 
Super Page Cache – Cloudflare Cache, Page Speed & Core Web Vitals 70K+ · 4.8★ (517)
wp.org #23 9 too low 15 
Go Fetch Jobs (for WP Job Manager) 600+ · 4.5★ (28)
wp.org #10 ↑6 5 too high 16 
Simple Shortcode for Google Maps 3K+ · 4.6★ (46)
wp.org #13 3 too high 17 
BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) not PHP-current
wp.org #18 ↑4 1 too low 18 
WP Job Portal – AI-Powered Recruitment System for Company or Job Board website 8K+ · 4.3★ (32)
wp.org #12 ↑5 6 too high 19 
easy.jobs – AI powered Job Listing, Job Board, Career Page, Recruitment & Hiring Solution 4K+ · 4.7★ (26)
wp.org #15 ↑4 4 too high 20 
Embedder for Google Reviews 6K+ · 5.0★ (7) thin reviews
wp.org #9 ↑1 11 too high 21 
JobBoardWP – Job Board Listings and Submissions 900+ · 5.0★ (10) thin reviews
wp.org #14 ↑1 7 too high 22 VK Google Job Posting Manager 2K+ · 4.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #2 20 too high 23 
Opt-Out for Google Analytics (DSGVO / GDPR) 3K+ · 4.3★ (6) thin reviews
wp.org #16 7 too high 24 
WP All Import – Job Listing Import for WP Job Manager 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) thin reviews
wp.org #17 ↑1 7 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.