WebP: Difference between revisions
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The latest Google perversion to the Internet is the image type WebP, designed to "replace" JPEG. This format has among other shortcomings no support for EXIF, CMYK, or ICC color profiles which is why photographers have no use for it. Google also didn't bother to add the most requested JPEG feature, support for an alpha channel. | The latest Google perversion to the Internet is the image type WebP, designed to "replace" JPEG. This format has among other shortcomings no support for EXIF, CMYK, or ICC color profiles which is why photographers have no use for it. Google also didn't bother to add the most requested JPEG feature, support for an alpha channel. | ||
WebP is a "force forward" image format that offers no significant benefit over one of the more common formats and WebP introduces new vulnerabilities into software due to poorly written rendering routines. The motivation is Google market dominance and the cost is inconvenience, broken image manipulation, and security. | |||
== Google Domination == | == Google Domination == | ||
Revision as of 12:07, 19 February 2025
The latest Google perversion to the Internet is the image type WebP, designed to "replace" JPEG. This format has among other shortcomings no support for EXIF, CMYK, or ICC color profiles which is why photographers have no use for it. Google also didn't bother to add the most requested JPEG feature, support for an alpha channel.
WebP is a "force forward" image format that offers no significant benefit over one of the more common formats and WebP introduces new vulnerabilities into software due to poorly written rendering routines. The motivation is Google market dominance and the cost is inconvenience, broken image manipulation, and security.
Google Domination
Google announced webP in 2010 and photoshop didn't officially support webP until February 2022. Google has been trying to force their new webP into wider adoption starting the push in 2013. Firefox and Safari added webP support in 2019 and 2020. Furthermore, with market dominating back room deals between Google and major CDNs you are now seeing WebP appearing on a wide range of web sites. Amazon Web Services and Akamai now convert images to webPs before serving them to people visiting many web sites. Cloudflare's Image Optimization service is another raw deal for people that want to download images online.
WebP still is not supported my most image editing software. WebP is rejected by many of the same web sites that serve the image format for viewing and download.
Heap Fuffer Overflow in WebP Security Vulnerability
In September 2022 Google reported that a newly discovered security issue relating to WebP images in their web browser Google Chrome. They described a "heap buffer overflow in WebP within Google Chrome" and tracked under CVE-2023-4863. Then the vulnerability was expanded when Google was forced to admit that the vulnerability existed not within Chrome, but within the libwebp library itself. The vulnerability was not just confined to Chrome but had far-reaching consequences due to the widespread use of the WebP format within various applications. Impacted software includes other web browsers as well as email clients, mobile apps, and operating systems.
