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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “remove dns prefetch”

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 “remove dns prefetch”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 12 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.

T

Ranked above its merit

TGG – WP Optimizer shows at wp.org #5 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 700+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 2 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization places #11 on merit, 4.5★ from 155 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 LiteSpeed Cache 7M+ · 4.8★ (2778) wp.org #1 2 D Disable Emojis (GDPR friendly) 60K+ · 5.0★ (108) wp.org #2 3 OMGF | GDPR/DSGVO Compliant, Faster Google Fonts. Easy. 300K+ · 4.7★ (213) wp.org #7 4 too low 4 Unbloater 5K+ · 5.0★ (17) wp.org #4 5 Disable Bloat for WordPress & WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.8★ (100) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 WP Hide & Security Enhancer 50K+ · 4.3★ (275) wp.org #6 7 Clearfy Cache – WordPress optimization plugin, Minify HTML, CSS & JS, Defer 40K+ · 4.7★ (339) wp.org #13 6 too low 8 HTTP Headers 40K+ · 4.3★ (70) wp.org #9 1 too low 9 WP Remove Query Strings From Static Resources 3K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #3 6 too high 10 DietPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (38) wp.org #17 7 too low 11 WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization 9K+ · 4.5★ (155) wp.org #21 10 too low 12 Leverage Browser Caching 9K+ · 4.1★ (42) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 SpeedyCache – Cache, Optimization, Performance 500K+ · 4.4★ (30) wp.org #10 3 too high 14 Featherweight 10K+ · 4.1★ (45) wp.org #11 3 too high 15 Easy Optimizer – PageSpeed, Cache & Core Web Vitals (Unused CSS, Delay JS, Lazy Load) 1K+ · 4.6★ (18) wp.org #18 3 too low 16 WP Performance 200+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #19 3 too low 17 EasyFonts – Host Google Fonts Locally, Fast & Auto-Optimize, GDPR Compliant 1K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #15 2 too high 18 Swift Performance Lite 6K+ · 3.6★ (125) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 T TGG – WP Optimizer 700+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #5 14 too high 20 The Off Switch (formerly WP Avoid Slow) 200+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 ezCache 10K+ · 4.6★ (5) wp.org #16 5 too high 22 Perform – Optimize Performance 200+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Embed Optimizer 50K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #12 11 too high 24 Performance & Security 50+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #23 1 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.