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← Rankings

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

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 “yelp”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 10 of the top 20. 3 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

Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback shows at wp.org #14 but places #24 on merit, a gap of 10 places. Its 1K+ 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

Strong Testimonials places #12 on merit, 4.8★ from 614 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 Widgets for Google Reviews 1M+ · 4.9★ (2667) wp.org #1 2 Premium Addons for Elementor – AI-Ready Elementor Addons, Widgets & Templates 600K+ · 4.9★ (1680) wp.org #6 ↑1 4 too low 3 WP Yelp Review Slider 1K+ · 4.9★ (24) wp.org #3 4 Site Reviews 60K+ · 4.9★ (376) wp.org #8 ↓2 4 too low 5 Reviews Widgets for Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp & Recommendations 10K+ · 4.9★ (326) wp.org #5 6 Reviews Feed – Add Testimonials and Customer Reviews From Google Reviews, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and More 100K+ · 4.3★ (36) wp.org #4 2 too high 7 ElementsKit Elementor Addons – Advanced Widgets & Templates Addons for Elementor 1M+ · 4.9★ (2051) wp.org #11 ↑2 4 too low 8 Widgets for Yelp Reviews 3K+ · 3.8★ (10) wp.org #2 6 too high 9 Widget for Yelp Reviews 2K+ · 4.8★ (43) wp.org #7 ↑1 2 too high 10 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress (Website Stats Made Easy) 2M+ · 4.5★ (3157) wp.org #9 1 too high 11 WP Google Review Slider 30K+ · 4.9★ (373) wp.org #10 1 too high 12 Strong Testimonials 80K+ · 4.8★ (614) wp.org #19 ↑3 7 too low 13 All-in-one Sticky Floating Contact Form, Call, Click to Chat, and 50+ Social Icon Tabs – My Sticky Elements 40K+ · 4.9★ (542) wp.org #22 ↑2 9 too low 14 WP TripAdvisor Review Slider 8K+ · 4.8★ (135) wp.org #16 ↑2 2 too low 15 Social Share Icons & Social Share Buttons 10K+ · 4.9★ (1911) wp.org #20 ↑3 5 too low 16 BNE Testimonials 1K+ · 4.9★ (28) wp.org #13 ↑1 3 too high 17 WP Review Slider 6K+ · 4.8★ (181) wp.org #15 ↑2 2 too high 18 Customer Reviews Collector for WooCommerce 5K+ · 4.7★ (24) wp.org #12 6 too high 19 Widgets for Airbnb Reviews 6K+ · 4.6★ (60) wp.org #17 2 too high 20 Classified Listing – AI-Powered Classified ads & Business Directory 9K+ · 4.8★ (138) wp.org #21 1 too low 21 Widgets for Booking.com Reviews 9K+ · 4.9★ (65) wp.org #24 ↓8 3 too low 22 Tagembed: Social Media Feeds and Customer Reviews Widget 9K+ · 3.9★ (62) wp.org #18 ↑2 4 too high 23 Widget for Google Reviews 1K+ · 5.0★ (5) wp.org #23 ↓2 24 Business Reviews – build trust with real customer feedback 1K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #14 ↑1 10 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.