"Threadwatch reports that Microsoft's list of "carefully screened" add-ons for IE7 includes tools commonly used to game search engines. Examples include Alexa Booster, which is "designed to simulate real online visitors and also simulating referrals to your site," and Doorway Page Wizard Professional, which "guides you through a step by step process to create highly optimized doorway pages for your website."

The Add-Ons for Internet Explorer site is co-badged "Powered by CNET.com," and the content seems to be generated from the same database that runs CNET's Download.com service, so Redmond might not be solely to blame.

Still, it's MS's name on the marquee... What the heck are they thinking... more