How to Disable Smart Tags Parsng in IE6

Smart Tags are a new feature of IE6 that add links to web pages you view. When you roll your mouse over the name of a company cited in a web page, for example, Smart Tags provide a list of links to information about that company.

Although this may be a convenience for some, it's easy to see how this feature could be used for advertising and promotional purposes, adding to the ad junk that already clutters many web sites and distracting users from the content on a page. (To see an example of Smart Tags in action, go to http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/preview/smarttags/default.asp)

If you'd like to avoid Smart Tags, there are two main things you should do:

1. Don't install any Smart Tags package on your own copy of IE6 (it should ship without any Smart Tags package preinstalled)
2. Disable Smart Tags parsing in any web pages you write. To do this, add the line:
   <meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="True">
   to each of those pages.

Last-Minute Update: As we go to press, Microsoft announced it will omit Smart Tags from IE6, although they will apparently remain a feature of Office XP. For more details, see "Critics Force Microsoft To Drop Smart Tags" at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nf/20010628/tc/11614_1.html