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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “invalid clicks”

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 “invalid clicks”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 14 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

Invalid Traffic Blocker shows at wp.org #3 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 19 places. Its 40+ 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

WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More places #8 on merit, 4.8★ from 14387 reviews, but shows at wp.org #19. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #1 2 WP Content Copy Protection & No Right Click 100K+ · 4.8★ (1138) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 All-in-One WP Migration and Backup 5M+ · 4.5★ (7676) wp.org #8 ↓3 5 too low 4 WPZOOM Connect: Social Icons Widget & Block, Share Buttons & Click to Chat 90K+ · 4.9★ (144) wp.org #7 3 too low 5 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #6 ↓3 1 too low 6 UpdraftPlus: WP Backup & Migration Plugin 4M+ · 4.8★ (8706) wp.org #11 ↓2 5 too low 7 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #15 ↑4 8 too low 8 WPForms – AI Form Builder for WordPress – Contact Forms, Payment Forms, Survey Form, Quiz & More 5M+ · 4.8★ (14387) wp.org #19 ↓2 11 too low 9 BackWPup – WordPress Backup & Restore Plugin 400K+ · 4.0★ (1323) wp.org #10 ↓2 1 too low 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 #13 ↓6 3 too low 11 WPFunnels – Funnel Builder for WooCommerce with Checkout & One Click Upsell 5K+ · 4.9★ (175) wp.org #14 ↓2 3 too low 12 Better Click To Share – Shareable Quote Boxes for X (Twitter) 6K+ · 4.8★ (48) wp.org #12 ↓2 13 WP-Optimize – Cache, Compress images, Minify & Clean database to boost page speed & performance 1M+ · 4.8★ (2617) wp.org #23 ↑1 10 too low 14 Essential Addons for Elementor – Popular Elementor Templates & Widgets 1M+ · 4.9★ (4132) wp.org #20 6 too low 15 Simple CAPTCHA with Cloudflare Turnstile 200K+ · 4.7★ (262) wp.org #21 ↓3 6 too low 16 InstaWP Connect – 1-click WP Staging & Migration 40K+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #9 ↓3 7 too high 17 Advanced Local Pickup for WooCommerce – Click & Collect, In-Store Pickup 3K+ · 4.7★ (55) wp.org #17 ↓2 18 ClickCease Click Fraud Protection 10K+ · 3.0★ (8) wp.org #5 ↑9 13 too high 19 R Remove invalid menu items 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 17 too high 20 Event Genius – Event Calendar, Event Registration, and Attendee Management 600+ · 4.8★ (17) wp.org #24 ↓2 4 too low 21 ChatHelp – Click to Chat Button, Chat to Order for WooCommerce & Floating Chat Form 2K+ · 4.4★ (9) wp.org #18 ↓2 3 too high 22 Invalid Traffic Blocker 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 ↑19 19 too high 23 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #22 ↓2 1 too high 24 HapiGuard – Invalid Click Protection for AdSense, Ad Manager & Auto Ads 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 ↓3 8 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.