Definition
This measure counts published reviews on WordPress plugin listings that were no longer present at the end of a period. It also names the plugins those reviews concerned. It records review removal, as distinct from review submission and from the rating score a plugin carries. A review only counts if it was recorded as published before it disappeared.
Population and window
Rivale measures removed reviews across the top 12,500 plugins. The window is the report month. It compares reviews recorded as published at the start of the period against reviews still present at the end.
How it is computed
Reviews recorded as published at the start of the period and absent at the end, counted across plugins, with the number of plugins affected and the share of removals that carried one star.
How to read it
A review posted and removed within the same month, between the two dates, is not captured. The figure is reported with the number of plugins affected and the share of removals that had carried one star. Read it beside plugins gaining no ratings to see removal activity and rating growth for the same plugins in the same issue. The share of removals carrying one star gives a sense of whether removals skewed toward negative reviews.
What it is not
This measure does not say who removed a review, whether the plugin author, the reviewer, or WordPress.org itself. It does not say why a review was removed. It does not count reviews that were never published. It is a distinct figure from plugins gaining no ratings, which counts ratings rather than review text. It is not a measure of new reviews added during the month, only of published reviews that disappeared.