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Google isn't the company that we should have handed the Web over to
Back in 2009, Google introduced SPDY, a proprietary replacement for HTTP that addressed what Google saw as certain performance issues with existing HTTP/1.1. Google wasn't exactly wrong in its assessments, but SPDY was something of a unilateral act, with Google responsible for the design and functionality. SPDY was adopted by other browsers and Web servers over the next few years, and Google's protocol became widespread.
[...] The same story is repeating with HTTP/3. In 2012, Google announced a new experimental protocol, QUIC, intended again to address performance issues with existing HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2. Google deployed QUIC, and Chrome would use QUIC when communicating with Google properties. Again, QUIC became the basis for IETF's HTTP development, and HTTP/3 uses a derivative of QUIC that's modified from and incompatible with Google's initial work.
It's not just HTTP that Google has repeatedly worked to replace. Google AMP ("Accelerated Mobile Pages") is a cut-down HTML combined with Google-supplied JavaScript designed to make mobile Web content load faster. This year, Google said that it would try to build AMP with Web standards and introduced a new governance model that gave the project much wider industry oversight.
A person claiming to be a former Microsoft Edge developer has written about a tactic Google supposedly used to harm the competing browser's performance:
A person claiming to be a former Edge developer has today described one such action. For no obvious reason, Google changed YouTube to add a hidden, empty HTML element that overlaid each video. This element disabled Edge's fastest, most efficient hardware accelerated video decoding. It hurt Edge's battery-life performance and took it below Chrome's. The change didn't improve Chrome's performance and didn't appear to serve any real purpose; it just hurt Edge, allowing Google to claim that Chrome's battery life was actually superior to Edge's. Microsoft asked Google if the company could remove the element, to no avail.
The latest version of Edge addresses the YouTube issue and reinstated Edge's performance. But when the company talks of having to do extra work to ensure EdgeHTML is compatible with the Web, this is the kind of thing that Microsoft has been forced to do.
See also: Ex Edge developer blames Google tricks in part for move to Chromium
Related: HTTP/2 on its Way In, SPDY on its Way Out
Google Touts QUIC Protocol
Google Attempting to Standardize Features of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Google AMP Can Go To Hell
The Next Version of HTTP Won't be Using TCP
HTTP/3 Explained: A Work in Progress
Microsoft Reportedly Building a Chromium-Based Web Browser to Replace Edge, and "Windows Lite" OS
Mozilla CEO Warns Microsoft's Switch to Chromium Will Give More Control of the Web to Google
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Tuesday December 18 2018, @09:18AM (9 children)
Turnabout is fair play. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. Etc.
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 5, Informative) by zocalo on Tuesday December 18 2018, @10:41AM (3 children)
I'm also wondering how much of this might actually be sour grapes since we are talking an *ex* Edge dev., and probably one who is proud of their work. Keep in mind that we are talking about Edge, here; the browser almost no one actually liked and with a resultant market share that's *still* pretty much a rounding error, and absolutely was for much of the period being talked about. Why on earth would Google waste the time and effort to deliberately and specifically target Edge instead of IE, Firefox, or Safari if they wanted to boost Chrome's market share and/or performance stats?
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 18 2018, @12:25PM
Might just well be - that element on top of the videa clip area is likely to display the ads and support the video nav buttons popping up on hover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by curunir_wolf on Tuesday December 18 2018, @04:24PM (1 child)
Surface and Windows devices. People using Windows and relying on Edge are not sending sufficient personal details and telemetry to Google's servers when they use Edge. They can't collect sufficient data from those folks.
Google even launched a marketing campaign [betanews.com] based on battery usage comparing Chrome and Edge (orchestrated by one of their highest paid [er-hmm ... "users"] [naibuzz.com]). They want those Windows users browsing with Chrome for a reason.
I am a crackpot
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 18 2018, @07:42PM
Indeed, just like Microsoft wants people using Edge, Windows 10, and Office 365 for a reason.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by BenJeremy on Tuesday December 18 2018, @12:34PM (1 child)
Stigginit to the man! Two wrongs always make a right, amiright? Sounds like a true Trumpster's philosophy.
Users are caught up in this sort of crap, and it has no place in a technological world. Microsoft, for its part, has gone quite a long way toward repenting its ways, but hey, never forget that 30 years ago, they did bad, passive aggressive things.
How about we stop playing stupid games and work to make the place a better world, rather than trying to cut off each others' dicks to win a penis measuring contest?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 18 2018, @06:28PM
lmao. fuck microsoft.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Tuesday December 18 2018, @03:14PM (2 children)
Unfortunately, at the end of the day both Microsoft's and Google's anti-competitive practices aren't just attacks on the competition - they're also attacks on the entire population of internet users, who will inevitably suffer from abuse and neglect by the monopoly du jour.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Tuesday December 18 2018, @05:38PM
I've known this since google shat on usenet using a the technique of embracing, extending, and extinguishing dejanews. I wonder where they learnt that technique...
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 19 2018, @04:23AM
Capitalism reveals its power and tyranny... on the internet.