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

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 “popia”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

CYTRIO Consent Management shows at wp.org #13 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 100+ installs carry it up the search order; its 1.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform places #6 on merit, 4.7★ from 52 reviews, but shows at wp.org #11. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #1 2 GDPR Cookie Compliance – Cookie Banner, Cookie Consent, Cookie Notice for CCPA, EU Cookie Law 300K+ · 4.6★ (205) wp.org #2 ↑1 3 CookieYes – Cookie Banner for Cookie Consent (Easy to setup GDPR/CCPA Compliant Cookie Notice) 1M+ · 4.8★ (3236) wp.org #3 ↑1 4 FAZ Cookie Manager 3K+ · 5.0★ (30) wp.org #5 ↑1 1 too low 5 WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) 200K+ · 4.8★ (84) wp.org #8 ↑2 3 too low 6 Seers AI | Cookie Consent Banner – GDPR & CCPA Compliant Consent Management Platform 1K+ · 4.7★ (52) wp.org #11 ↑1 5 too low 7 Free Cookie Notice & Consent Banner for Privacy Compliance (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO and others) 7K+ · 4.0★ (16) wp.org #7 8 SilverStream Privacy Toolkit for POPIA 10+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 ↓2 4 too high 9 AdOpt | Easy Multi-Regulations Cookie Banner. 7K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #6 ↓1 3 too high 10 Be POPIA Compliant 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #10 ↓1 11 UniConsent Cookie Consent CMP – Consent Manager 2K+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Kukie – Cookie Consent & Privacy Banner (GDPR, CCPA, DSGVO) 80+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑1 13 CookieJar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #17 4 too low 14 Gobuddy – The official Gobuddy add-on for WooCommerce — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 ↓2 4 too low 15 CookieFlame — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 Intastellar Consents – GDPR Cookie Banner & Google Consent Mode — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #19 ↓2 3 too low 17 EDZNET Geolocation — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #20 3 too low 18 DigiConsent – Cookie Consent Banner for GDPR, CCPA & ePrivacy Compliance 40+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↓1 2 too high 19 OW Consent — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 3 too low 20 Happy Ads 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 SEATEXT FREE Translation and Conversion Rate Boost 30+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #21 ↓2 22 CYTRIO Consent Management 100+ · 1.0★ (1) wp.org #13 ↑1 9 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.