Have you ever visited a site that seemed to have highlighted links splattered across the page – even your own website?  These are called Smart Tags, and they are Microsoft’s links that appear on other people’s sites when viewed in Internet Explorer.  Why are they a problem? Well, quite simply they are designed to lead traffic away from YOUR site!  This is a problem – and it threatens the success of affiliate marketing programs.

Microsoft announced recently that Internet Explorer 6 and Windows XP will no longer include smart tags.  But this is not a promise that future software versions will not include the use of smart tags.

Thankfully, you can disable smart tags by simply adding a Meta tag to your html pages.  Once you add this Meta tag, Internet Explorer will be unable to add the smart tags to your site.

The html code for the Meta tag is:

<meta name="MSSmartTagsPreventParsing" content="TRUE">

If you would like to see Smart Tags in action, Click here to see how Microsoft drives away website traffic on a site that markets affiliate links where fans can purchase Baltimore Orioles products.

You will notice a box circled in red. This is a Smart Tag designed to pull users from the site.  Baltimore Orioles, the phrase appearing in blue has been Smart Tagged/