Standardized data formats and protocols exist already - see Linked Data and the Semantic Web. They're mostly used by non-commercial data providers because of the aforementioned incentive problem.

What does this have to do with anything though? Why is another standard a problem to people who don't even care about the problem it solves?

Linked data is actually heavily used by commercial entities, especially by video websites. This is because Google uses it for rich search results and they see value in exposing the information for that purpose.

It is nowhere near universal, but it seems to be growing and I hope it continues.