In reply to Jeff Chandler.

This is a keen observation. We want to shift focus to important plugin metrics, not just the vanity ones. I dare say, if ManageWP.org metrics reach more developers the overall plugin quality will tend to improve.

I've already seen that with content. When ManageWP.org started a year ago we had to fight with ton of content that was not really up to the standard. A year later of fighting that, constantly increasing the standard and guidelines, I've seen the quality of submissions improve especially with the smaller blogs. And in some part this is thanks to blogs wanting their content to rank well on a site like ManageWP.org.