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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “script ads”

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 “script ads”, 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

Kliken: Ads + Pixel for Meta shows at wp.org #11 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 13 places. Its 30K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 3.0★ average from 1 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative places #12 on merit, 4.1★ from 758 reviews, but shows at wp.org #22. 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 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads 300K+ · 4.9★ (2433) wp.org #2 3 Quads Ads Manager for Google AdSense 20K+ · 4.9★ (1087) wp.org #3 4 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #4 ↑1 5 WPCode – Insert Headers and Footers + Custom Code Snippets – WordPress Code Manager 3M+ · 4.9★ (1916) wp.org #8 3 too low 6 Pixel Manager for WooCommerce – Conversion Tracking, Google Ads, GA4, TikTok, Dynamic Remarketing 40K+ · 4.9★ (399) wp.org #10 ↓1 4 too low 7 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1667) wp.org #9 ↑4 2 too low 8 Woody Code Snippets – Insert PHP, CSS, JS, and Header/Footer Scripts 50K+ · 4.5★ (221) wp.org #7 1 too high 9 PixelYourSite – Your smart PIXEL (TAG) & API Manager 400K+ · 4.3★ (281) wp.org #14 ↑6 5 too low 10 Header and Footer Scripts 200K+ · 4.6★ (58) wp.org #12 ↓2 2 too low 11 Ad Invalid Click Protector (AICP) 10K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #16 ↓1 5 too low 12 WP Statistics – Simple, privacy-friendly Google Analytics alternative 500K+ · 4.1★ (758) wp.org #22 ↑1 10 too low 13 Transliterator – Multilingual and Multi-script Text Conversion 3K+ · 4.8★ (96) wp.org #19 ↓1 6 too low 14 Tracking Script Manager 2K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #6 8 too high 15 Raptive Ads 6K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #5 ↓1 10 too high 16 SureCookie – GDPR Cookie Consent Banner, Cookie Scanner & Script Blocking 70K+ · 4.9★ (21) wp.org #20 ↓1 4 too low 17 Easy Google Adsense and Banner Ads Manager – AdsforWP 1K+ · 4.6★ (43) wp.org #15 ↓1 2 too high 18 Conversios – GA4, Google Ads & Meta Conversion Tracking with Product Feed for WooCommerce 10K+ · 4.3★ (206) wp.org #24 6 too low 19 Hafenstudios Ads – Ad Manager, AdSense & Banner Ads 100+ · 5.0★ (14) wp.org #21 2 too low 20 Header Footer Script Adder 1K+ · 4.1★ (7) wp.org #13 ↓1 7 too high 21 CHP Ads Block Detector 800+ · 4.0★ (25) wp.org #17 ↓1 4 too high 22 AdFlow – Ad Inserter & Ad Manager: AdSense, Banner Ads & ads.txt 3K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too high 23 Cookie-Script.com 10K+ · 3.1★ (14) wp.org #23 ↓1 24 Kliken: Ads + Pixel for Meta 30K+ · 3.0★ (1) wp.org #11 13 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.