The Web is buzzing this morning with rumors that Microsoft's rumored acquisition of Claria, the Adware Behemoth Formerly Known As Gator, has been deep-sixed by somebody at Microsoft -- probably the first adult who heard about the idea.

I liked Ed Bott's take on it best. He quotes the very apropos Stupid Mantra.

The big question, of course, is what will happen to the classification of Claria in Microsoft's Anti-Spyware app -- will it still be treated with kid gloves? Or will the scales miraculously fall from Microsoft's eyes allowing it to recognize malware when it sees it?