The Global Language of Business

Google highlights GS1 GTINs for better product information

Mar 2, 2021, by Randy Rockinson, Product Manager for Product Data, Google Shopping - Category: Marketplaces & eCommerce

Providing better product information for shoppers

Unique and accurate product information helps brands, manufacturers and retailers, explains new Google blog post

Buy OnlineIn a Feb 2021 blog post on Google Search Central, Randy Rockinson, Product Manager for Product Data at Google Shopping, writes that “organizing product information for shoppers and retailers is an essential part” of Google’s mission—and that “to best help users find your content and products in Search, we recommend that websites clearly identify products...”

Uniqueness, verifiability and global reach help manufacturers, retailers and publishers access unlimited consumers.

Accurate and trusted product data are essential for identifying products whether online or offline. To ensure this, Rockinson points to three factors that need to be in place:

  • unique identifiers for each product,
  • the ability to verify the identity of a product and
  • other product information to ensure data accuracy—and the use of a product identification system that has global reach.

The blog post goes on to highlight the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), “which provides internationally recognized standard identifiers for products both in physical stores and on e-commerce platforms.” It adds that Google adopted the use of GTINs as the standard in 2015.

How Google identifies products online and offline

Once brands and manufacturers have registered their GTINs through GS1, they “can submit their product data through the Google Manufacturer Center for free, and as part of this process, share the product information to uniquely identify the products to Google,” Rockinson writes.

Google also advises brands and manufacturers not to reuse GTINs and provides other pro tips for retailers, 3rd party sellers and online publishers.

Read the entire blog post  as written by Randy Rockinson, Product Manager for Product Data, Google Shopping

Tags: selling online, marketplaces, Google, shopping