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← Rankings

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

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

Advanced Age Verification Popup shows at wp.org #11 but places #21 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 700+ 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

TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 1667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #23. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #3 1 too low 3 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too low 4 Easy Google Maps by Supsystic – Custom Markers, Clustering & Map Themes 20K+ · 4.6★ (251) wp.org #5 1 too low 5 Google Authenticator 20K+ · 4.3★ (135) wp.org #7 ↓1 2 too low 6 reCaptcha by BestWebSoft 100K+ · 3.9★ (391) wp.org #8 ↓4 2 too low 7 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce 8K+ · 4.8★ (47) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too high 8 Google for WooCommerce 800K+ · 2.7★ (268) wp.org #2 ↓1 6 too high 9 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #9 ↓2 10 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Translate WordPress with GTranslate 900K+ · 4.9★ (4962) wp.org #20 9 too low 12 TranslatePress – Translate Multilingual sites with AI Translation 400K+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #23 ↓3 11 too low 13 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #14 ↓3 1 too low 14 Cookiebot – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for GDPR, CCPA & Google Consent Mode 100K+ · 4.4★ (440) wp.org #24 ↓1 10 too low 15 Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ · 4.3★ (115) wp.org #22 ↓3 7 too low 16 Meta Tag Manager 70K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #19 ↓3 3 too low 17 Autocomplete Google Address 2K+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #16 ↓2 1 too high 18 Image and video gallery from Google Drive 4K+ · 4.3★ (39) wp.org #21 ↓3 3 too low 19 SMNTCS Google Webmaster Tools 6K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #10 ↓1 9 too high 20 Customer Email Verification for WooCommerce – OTP Verification, Block Fake Signups 2K+ · 4.2★ (20) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 Advanced Age Verification Popup 700+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 ↓3 10 too high 22 HT Easy GA4 – Google Analytics WordPress Plugin 6K+ · 4.5★ (8) wp.org #17 ↓2 5 too high 23 TK Google Fonts 1K+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #18 ↓1 5 too high 24 W WP Site Verification tool 1K+ · 3.7★ (6) wp.org #15 ↓2 9 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.