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

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 “search integration”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 11 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

mosparo Integration shows at wp.org #12 but places #22 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 5 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Widgets for Google Reviews places #11 on merit, 4.9★ from 2667 reviews, but shows at wp.org #18. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 2 Ajax Search Lite – Live Search & Filter 70K+ · 4.8★ (266) wp.org #2 ↑2 3 FiboSearch – Ajax Search for WooCommerce 100K+ · 4.9★ (1815) wp.org #3 4 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too low 5 Advanced Woo Search – Product Search for WooCommerce 60K+ · 4.8★ (248) wp.org #4 ↓2 1 too high 6 Forminator Forms – Contact Form, Payment Form & Custom Form Builder 600K+ · 4.8★ (2144) wp.org #9 3 too low 7 WooCommerce 7M+ · 4.5★ (4833) wp.org #5 2 too high 8 SearchWP Live Ajax Search 40K+ · 4.7★ (36) wp.org #8 ↓1 9 WP Search with Algolia 7K+ · 4.5★ (24) wp.org #6 ↑2 3 too high 10 Advanced Form Integration — Connect Forms to 300+ Apps 9K+ · 4.8★ (91) wp.org #11 ↑2 1 too low 11 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #18 ↑4 7 too low 12 Wordfence Security – Firewall, Malware Scan, and Login Security 5M+ · 4.7★ (5039) wp.org #16 ↑4 4 too low 13 Search in Place 3K+ · 4.9★ (64) wp.org #14 ↑3 1 too low 14 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #23 9 too low 15 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #19 4 too low 16 Better Search – Relevant search results for WordPress 5K+ · 4.4★ (61) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 Sokol: Smart WooCommerce Search 5K+ · 4.4★ (24) wp.org #10 7 too high 18 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #21 ↓10 3 too low 19 Code Snippets 1M+ · 4.7★ (510) wp.org #24 ↓8 5 too low 20 Search Insights – Privacy-Friendly Search Analytics 3K+ · 4.9★ (29) wp.org #15 ↑3 5 too high 21 Next Active Directory Integration 2K+ · 4.8★ (16) wp.org #20 ↑1 1 too high 22 mosparo Integration 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #12 ↑3 10 too high 23 YITH WooCommerce Ajax Search 30K+ · 3.0★ (42) wp.org #22 ↑2 1 too high 24 AI Search for WooCommerce – Semantic Search 200+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #17 ↓5 7 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.