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

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 “impersonation”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 17 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 the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification shows at wp.org #3 but places #8 on merit, a gap of 5 places. Its 90+ 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

Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App places #3 on merit, 4.7★ from 528 reviews, but shows at wp.org #21. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Active Directory Integration / LDAP Integration 4K+ · 4.9★ (211) wp.org #1 2 Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer 1K+ · 3.8★ (8) wp.org #2 3 Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App 300K+ · 4.7★ (528) wp.org #21 ↓2 18 too low 4 User Role Editor 700K+ · 4.5★ (288) wp.org #16 12 too low 5 Fast User Switching 1K+ · 4.1★ (9) wp.org #5 ↓1 6 Login as User: See the Site as Any User 30K+ · 4.8★ (41) wp.org #17 11 too low 7 Ads.txt & App-ads.txt Manager for WordPress 2K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #22 ↓1 15 too low 8 Forge AI Bot Log – Block AI Bots, Crawler Detection & Verification 90+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 UserRoleSwitcher 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 ↑3 5 too high 10 BitFire Security – Firewall, Malware Scanner, Bot Blocker, Login Protection 300+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #23 ↓1 13 too low 11 InboxAuth – Email Security, Setup SPF / DKIM, DMARC & Check Email Authenticity 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #6 ↓1 5 too high 12 RankyFy AI SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #7 ↑8 5 too high 13 Dalmatian Dream Login As User — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #8 5 too high 14 O-PLUX Fraudulent Order Detection 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #9 ↓3 5 too high 15 Vigidomain — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↓1 5 too high 16 Watrix Login as User — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↓1 5 too high 17 D Doppelganger — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #12 ↓1 5 too high 18 User ID — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 ↓1 5 too high 19 Casa Mail 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↓1 5 too high 20 w3mypq — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↓1 5 too high 21 Icegram User Switching – Switch User Accounts Instantly, Login as User & Test Roles for WordPress & WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 3 too high 22 FounderPostAI – AI Suite SEO — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓1 3 too high 23 Imedes AI Bot Verify — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too high 24 Clicks User Manager — Bulk Delete, Edit Roles, Email & Export WordPress Users 60+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #24 ↓1

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.