Plugin Pulse Beta
← Rankings

wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “responsive adsense”

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

In-feed ads for Google AdSense shows at wp.org #3 but places #17 on merit, a gap of 14 places. Its 6K+ 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

Seraphinite Accelerator places #10 on merit, 4.8★ from 476 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 Advanced Ads – Ad Manager & AdSense 90K+ · 4.9★ (1463) wp.org #1 2 Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) wp.org #2 3 Translate WordPress – Google Language Translator 100K+ · 4.7★ (620) wp.org #10 7 too low 4 AdRotate Banner Manager 20K+ · 4.3★ (655) wp.org #8 ↑1 4 too low 5 3D FlipBook – PDF Embedder, PDF Flipbook Viewer, Flipbook Image Gallery 70K+ · 4.8★ (182) wp.org #13 ↑2 8 too low 6 Easy Google Adsense and Banner Ads Manager – AdsforWP 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #5 1 too high 7 Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #6 1 too high 8 Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #12 ↓1 4 too low 9 Superb Addons: Blocks, Patterns, Pre-built Pages, Sliders, Popups, Free Forms, Animations & More 80K+ · 4.9★ (23) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too low 10 Seraphinite Accelerator 50K+ · 4.8★ (476) wp.org #19 9 too low 11 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #4 7 too high 12 Post Pay Counter 1K+ · 4.8★ (46) wp.org #14 2 too low 13 Plover Kit – Blocks, Patterns, Responsive Layout and Gutenberg Editor Enhancements 3K+ · 4.2★ (5) wp.org #7 6 too high 14 AdX Ad Inserter – Adsense and Ad Manager Ads 80+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #9 ↓1 5 too high 15 CHP Ads Block Detector 800+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #20 5 too low 16 Superb Social Media Share Buttons and Follow Buttons 6K+ · 4.4★ (11) wp.org #23 7 too low 17 In-feed ads for Google AdSense 6K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #3 14 too high 18 CM Pop-Up – Create engaging popups to capture attention and boost interaction 8K+ · 3.4★ (13) wp.org #16 2 too high 19 Ads.txt File Manager By Magicbid 2K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 CM Ad Changer – A simple tool to control and optimize your site’s banners 100+ · 3.1★ (15) wp.org #22 2 too low 21 YAHMAN Add-ons 1K+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #15 ↓2 6 too high 22 Sticky Ads Lightweight 300+ · 3.7★ (3) wp.org #21 1 too high 23 Auto Responsive Table 30+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #18 5 too high 24 PDF Flipbook, WPBakery Addon – Unreal FlipBook 1K+ · 3.0★ (2) wp.org #24

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.