In February this year, I was invited by Phil Archer, an old acquaintance, to speak at the GS1 Global Forum in Brussels. While I had to attend remotely due to illness, it was an honour to impart my knowledge about GS1 standards and their significance in the e-commerce and digital marketing landscape.
GS1 is a not-for-profit organization that develops and maintains global standards for business communication. Their standards are used in identifying, capturing, and sharing information about products, business locations, etc. It is estimated that GS1 standards are used by over 2 million companies worldwide, with a staggering 5 billion barcode scans daily.
The forum was an opportunity for industry leaders to discuss GS1 standards and technologies that facilitate global trade. My presentation merged GS1 Digital Link with our Product Knowledge Graph, revealing comprehensive insights into products. I discussed our utilisation of the GS1 Web Vocabulary and the GS1 extension of Schema.org as the groundwork for SEOntology, our novel approach to search engine optimization.
Google’s commitment to alleviating the complexities of e-commerce also stood out at the forum. They’ve collaborated with GS1 and are on-board with the GS1 Digital Link standard, which links a product’s barcode to its online presence for easy access to the product’s comprehensive data. This helps Google refine its global shopping graph, ensuring consumers discover the most relevant and detailed product information effortlessly. It even helps inventory variations, product variations and certifications, and product detail understanding.
Another significant development that caught my attention was the upcoming Digital Product Passport (DPP). To be implemented between 2026 and 2030 by the EU, the DPP is a unique comprehensive dataset accessible electronically, with information relevant to each product’s sustainability, recyclability, and connectivity. It has the potential to revolutionize product transparency and compliance across the EU market, improving traceability, streamlining compliance checks, and detailing records of potentially harmful substances.
Lastly, the forum solidified our dedication to leading in SEO, product discovery, and digital marketing, especially in advancing open standards for data and technology, promoting transparency and fairness for consumers and citizens. It was a fulfilling experience to represent WordLift with Can Berk Yakar and Kim Renberg, and share our passion and expertise at the GS1 Global Forum.
