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

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 “mediavine”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 7 of the top 20. 5 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

Grow for WordPress shows at wp.org #10 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.3★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic places #8 on merit, 4.4★ from 1052 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 Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) wp.org #3 2 too low 2 WP Recipe Maker 50K+ · 5.0★ (354) wp.org #4 2 too low 3 Create 6K+ · 4.3★ (26) wp.org #2 1 too high 4 Mediavine Control Panel 10K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #1 3 too high 5 NitroPack – Performance, Page Speed & Cache Plugin for Core Web Vitals, CDN & Image Optimization 90K+ · 4.3★ (311) wp.org #6 1 too low 6 Easy Google Adsense and Banner Ads Manager – AdsforWP 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Hubbub Lite – Fast, free social sharing and follow buttons 30K+ · 4.7★ (173) wp.org #14 7 too low 8 Professional Social Sharing Buttons, Icons & Related Posts – Shareaholic 10K+ · 4.4★ (1052) wp.org #19 11 too low 9 Memberful – Membership Plugin 1K+ · 4.7★ (13) wp.org #17 8 too low 10 Spillt Recipe Plugin 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 Tasty Recipes Lite – WordPress Recipe Card Plugin with Built-In Recipe Schema 2K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 4 too high 12 AdPresso – The Modern Ad Manager for AdSense, Banners & Ad Tracking 20+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #11 1 too high 13 AZO Ads – Video Ad, Banner Ad, Popup Ad, AdSense Ad & much more 70+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #12 1 too high 14 GRO 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 Phynite Analytics 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #13 2 too high 16 NudgeAI — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 1 too high 17 Mediavine AMP Redirect 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 5 too low 18 Parasol — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Grow for WordPress 10K+ · 2.3★ (3) wp.org #10 9 too high 20 Otherboard 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 2 too high 21 xpay✦ Agentic Commerce for Publishers — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 1 too high 22 Foodspace Recipe Widget — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 1 too low 23 Mediavine Pagination 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 2 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.