Google officially announced WebP in September 2010, as an alternative image format with significant bytes savings of about 30% - 80% compared to JPEG and PNG. While Mozilla initially did not buy into the image format, citing insufficient improvement over the more widely used formats like JPEG and PNG.
Now, Mozilla after seriously evaluating the WebP image format, has formerly endorsed it for Firefox in it's effort to speed up the web with a better image technology.
The new image format was successfully implemented across Google's social networking platforms, including Google+ Android App, and a host of other web service companies like Facebook have already joined the WebP bandwagon.
WebP's unique features includes ability to render transparent sections of an image with lossless compression as in the case of PNG and lossy as in JPEG (Lossy compression is shrinking of file with data losses, while Lossless compression retains original image).
Also, Microsoft had earlier announced the support for WebP on Edge browser, which arrived with the new version of Windows 10 introduced by the company.
The compatibility problems with websites that had relied on WebP without any fallback to JPEG or PNG have been significantly reduced with the more widely adoption of the new image technology, with Microsoft's Edge and Mozilla's Firefox haven joined the party.
Albeit, it's not yet uhuru, as Apple's Safari still don't support WebP and every iPhone/iPad relies on Apple's browser technology, as such Apple's choice carries a lot of weight in the mobile ecosystem.
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