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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “image scanner”

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 “image scanner”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 of the top 20. 4 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

Cleverhog Malware Scanner shows at wp.org #9 but places #20 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click places #9 on merit, 4.8★ from 1138 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 Smush – Image Optimization, Compression, Lazy Load, WebP & CDN 1M+ · 4.8★ (6053) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Sucuri Security – Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening 600K+ · 4.2★ (386) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 MalCare WordPress Security Plugin – Malware Scanner, Cleaner, Security Firewall 100K+ · 4.4★ (559) wp.org #5 ↑1 2 too low 4 Vigilant – 100% Free Security Suite: Firewall, 2FA, Login, Headers, Scanner… 3K+ · 5.0★ (24) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 Media Cleaner: Delete Unused Images & Clean Your Media Library 90K+ · 4.6★ (779) wp.org #11 6 too low 6 Event Tickets with Ticket Scanner 1K+ · 4.8★ (24) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 Media File Renamer: Rename Images & Files for SEO (AI-Powered) 40K+ · 4.6★ (447) wp.org #12 ↑4 5 too low 8 Image Source Control Lite – Show Image Credits and Captions 3K+ · 4.6★ (42) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too high 9 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 All-In-One Security (AIOS) – Security and Firewall 1M+ · 4.7★ (1720) wp.org #14 ↓1 4 too low 11 Barcode Scanner (+Mobile App) – Inventory manager, Order fulfillment system, POS (Point of Sale) 700+ · 5.0★ (52) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 TinyPNG Image Optimization – Image Compression JPEG & PNG | Convert to WebP & AVIF 100K+ · 4.5★ (181) wp.org #13 ↓1 1 too low 13 Security Ninja – WordPress Security & Firewall 7K+ · 4.7★ (101) wp.org #19 ↑2 6 too low 14 WPScan – WordPress Security Scanner 8K+ · 3.8★ (28) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #22 7 too low 16 Media Hygiene: Remove or Delete Unused Images and More! 4K+ · 4.2★ (41) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 DevDome Malware Scanner – WordPress Malware Removal & Security Scanner 300+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 10 too high 18 Moatline Malware Scanner 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 PixGrow Image Optimizer 90+ · 4.0★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓2 2 too low 20 Cleverhog Malware Scanner 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #9 11 too high 21 DevDome Media Cleaner: Remove Unused Images & Media Library Cleanup 500+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 SEO'n'AI – Image Locator & Find Unused Images 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Instant AI Image Generator – Create & Import Images 800+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #16 ↓1 7 too high 24 S3 Image Optimizer 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 6 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.