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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “multi touch attribution”

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 “multi touch attribution”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 18 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

My Agile Pixel® – Self-Hosted Server-Side Tracking for WordPress shows at wp.org #2 but places #13 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 300+ 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

WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) places #3 on merit, 4.9★ from 154 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 BrikPanel: WooCommerce Dashboard & Analytics, Abandoned Cart Recovery, Order Export, Inventory Management & Bulk Editor 1K+ · 5.0★ (55) wp.org #7 ↓1 6 too low 2 Reviews and Rating – Google Reviews 20K+ · 4.9★ (184) wp.org #10 8 too low 3 WPO365 | SEAMLESS WORDPRESS + MICROSOFT INTEGRATION (WPO365 | LOGIN) 10K+ · 4.9★ (154) wp.org #17 14 too low 4 Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder 10K+ · 4.8★ (89) wp.org #9 5 too low 5 Mapster WP Maps 3K+ · 4.9★ (54) wp.org #12 ↓1 7 too low 6 Multi-Touch Attribution for WooCommerce — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #1 5 too high 7 Simple Points and Rewards for WooCommerce – Create a Loyalty Program 400+ · 5.0★ (7) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too high 8 TrackSure Cloud – Server-Side Tracking, Meta CAPI & GA4 for WooCommerce 70+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 5 too high 9 CheckoutWC Lite – Conversion optimized WooCommerce checkout 2K+ · 4.8★ (34) wp.org #13 4 too low 10 FormsCRM – Connect Forms to CRM directly 1K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↑2 5 too high 11 WP GPX Maps 4K+ · 4.1★ (59) wp.org #19 8 too low 12 OpenStation – Admin Dashboard Notes, Custom Dashboard, AI Assistant & PWA 1K+ · 5.0★ (23) wp.org #23 ↓1 11 too low 13 My Agile Pixel® – Self-Hosted Server-Side Tracking for WordPress 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #2 11 too high 14 Connect CF7 to HubSpot – Contact Form 7 CRM Integration 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 6 too high 15 CQI Referrer Attribution 20+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #4 11 too high 16 Products Showcase – Shopify Integration 100+ · 5.0★ (4) wp.org #16 17 HIPAA Forms 800+ · 4.3★ (9) wp.org #24 7 too low 18 BaseCloud UTM Tracker 90+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 3 too high 19 UniPixel: Meta, Pinterest, TikTok, Google & Microsoft Server-Side Tracking for WooCommerce 200+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #21 ↓1 2 too low 20 MemberKits – Ultimate Member for Elementor 400+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #14 6 too high 21 Expertise AI Chatbot 60+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #22 ↓1 1 too low 22 UTM Tracker for Gravity Forms 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #11 ↑1 11 too high 23 Alpha Insights – Advanced Analytics, Sales Reporting & COGS for WooCommerce 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 Kantan Analytics – Cookieless Self-Hosted Analytics & Heatmaps 20+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 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.