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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “start video”

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 “start video”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 1 plugin is 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

Wonder Video Embed shows at wp.org #8 but places #16 on merit, a gap of 8 places. Its 4K+ 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

Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner places #12 on merit, 4.7★ from 1668 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 Modula Image Gallery – Photo Grid & Video Gallery 100K+ · 4.7★ (616) wp.org #1 2 HTML5 Video Player – embed fast, responsive videos with ease 20K+ · 4.6★ (195) wp.org #2 ↑5 3 Video Conferencing with Zoom 10K+ · 4.8★ (217) wp.org #5 ↓3 2 too low 4 Easy Video Player 20K+ · 4.2★ (57) wp.org #3 1 too high 5 All-in-One Video Gallery – Video Player & Galleries for YouTube, Vimeo & Self-Hosted Videos 20K+ · 4.8★ (136) wp.org #6 ↓1 1 too low 6 WP Video Lightbox 30K+ · 4.3★ (67) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 The Events Calendar 600K+ · 4.2★ (2461) wp.org #13 ↓3 6 too low 8 Jetpack – AI Agents & MCP, Security, Backup & Analytics 3M+ · 3.7★ (2408) wp.org #10 ↑1 2 too low 9 Advanced Responsive Video Embedder for Rumble, Odysee, YouTube, Vimeo, Kick … 20K+ · 4.2★ (169) wp.org #12 3 too low 10 Video Gallery for WooCommerce – Add Product Video & Featured Video 4K+ · 5.0★ (44) wp.org #7 ↓1 3 too high 11 Video Popup – Video Lightbox for YouTube, Vimeo & MP4 10K+ · 4.5★ (43) wp.org #9 ↓1 2 too high 12 Complianz GDPR/CCPA Cookie Consent Banner 1M+ · 4.7★ (1668) wp.org #22 10 too low 13 Really Simple Featured Video for Posts, Pages & WooCommerce Products 4K+ · 4.0★ (34) wp.org #14 ↓1 1 too low 14 Vimeotheque – Vimeo WordPress Plugin & Video Gallery 2K+ · 4.6★ (26) wp.org #18 ↓1 4 too low 15 Video Player Block – play videos beautifully on any device 2K+ · 5.0★ (8) wp.org #11 ↓2 4 too high 16 Wonder Video Embed 4K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #8 8 too high 17 Super Video player – Fully Customizable Video Player with Playlist 2K+ · 4.2★ (30) wp.org #17 ↓1 18 Protected Video 1K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 1 too low 19 Video Background Block – Add Stunning Video Backgrounds to Any Section 2K+ · 4.5★ (4) wp.org #15 ↓1 4 too high 20 Video Gallery Block – showcase your videos in a filterable gallery 1K+ · 4.2★ (6) wp.org #16 ↓1 4 too high 21 Video Gallery – YouTube, Vimeo & Video Slider with Lightbox 1K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #24 3 too low 22 Lean Player – Video and Audio Player with Playlist for WordPress, Elementor and Gutenberg 2K+ · 4.7★ (6) wp.org #20 2 too high 23 Livid – Video Hosting 300+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #23 24 Gumlet Video 300+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #21 3 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.