In reply to Carl Hancock.

Agreed. As well as that list, there's also 'bundled' - you get Akismet with your WP download.

I think both the featured and bundled plugin(s) should just be dropped - what is the featured list really of? These two mechanisms push paid Automattic products (e.g. Akismet, VaultPress via JetPack), and presumably is commercially valuable for them. Do they pay the WordPress foundation for that advertising space? I think that some transparency about how the list is put together would be valuable.