rant : Why do I have to log into your Knowledgebase?

I just don’t get it.  Why do I need to have a user account and password to access a vendor’s Knowledgebase?  What is so important behind that link that you do not want it indexed and searchable by Google (my primary troubleshooting tool)?  By not allowing major search engines to access your knowledgebase, you are making it THAT much more difficult for me to resolve issues related to your software.  Honestly, if someone doesn’t already own your software, I would imagine that they couldn’t care less about your knowledgebase.  And while I am at it, ONCE I actually go through the trouble of registering to get access, your search engine pales in comparison to the options that Google provides to me.  If you want to track usage, you don’t need to have actual usernames; use IPs and page views like the rest of the world.  I can only rationalize that these vendors don’t want to risk their issues dominating the search results when someone Googles for the product.. Other than that, I really can’t think of a reason to not make KB content available. If anyone out there knows why they lock up their KBs, let me know – It’s super annoying!