[uf-discuss] new standard for product information

[Mike Schinkel]

Ted:

I don’t see where the standard was described in the article. I did a web
search and couldn't find anything on it.  Do you have more info?

It could well to too complicated for microformats as they mention "There are
50 to 100 pieces of information that the search engines want."  If too
complicated, it might not get used ubiquitiously and might be like RDF vs.
RSS (RDF is a great standard, but complexity deters broad deployment when
compared to a simple RSS.)  

-Mike Schinkel
President; Guides, Inc.
http://www.guidesinc.com
http://www.mikeschinkel.com/blog
http://www.welldesignedurls.org/
P.S. One of the reasons I joined the list is I would like to propose a
simple microformat for product info.  I ran an Internet retailer for 12
years that started out as a catalog retailer and reached Inc 500 status in
1999. So I know a bit about this area. ;)  But as I said earlier today when
I introduced myself, I wanted to sit back for a bit and sink in the culture
of the list before I started proposing things and wasting everyone's time.



-----Original Message-----
From: microformats-discuss-bounces at microformats.org
[mailto:microformats-discuss-bounces at microformats.org] On Behalf Of Ted
Drake
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 3:37 PM
To: microformats-discuss at microformats.org
Subject: [uf-discuss] new standard for product information

>From Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20061012/tc_zd/191021

New Standard Might Make E-Commerce Product Comparisons Easier


A major trade group on Tuesday unveiled new e-commerce product format
guidelines, which might help consumers more accurately compare products. But
first, retailers have to reverse their proprietary ways. 
The new standard data exchange formats were introduced by the ARTS
(Association for Retail Technical Standards), which is a part of the NRF
(National Retail Federation).
The intent of the new rules was to help lighten the processing burdens of
retailers as they submit product details to various product-comparison Web
sites.
But a possible unintended consequence of the move is that it might help
those product-comparison sites more easily identify which products are
identical.

...


I would thin this standard could be adopted quickly via microformats. What
are the thoughts?


Ted Drake
Yahoo! Tech  - Tech Made Easy



Member of the Yahoo! Accessibility Stakeholders Group


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