Google made it official today that it would be dropping support for H.264 video in Chromes’s HTML5 component. Google admits that the popular format had an “important role” but had hoped it could force adoption of its open yet internally-developed WebM format as well as Ogg Theora. Google has said that opening up the VP8 codec underneath was a cause of major speed improvements as well as widespread adoption.

If the change were to take place it would be over the next 2 months and would be detailed in advance in the hopes that sites would voluntarily switch from HTML5 video to WebM. As of now, its unknown if there are any extensions or plugings that could bring the back the codec. The abandonment of H.264 is a potentially risky move on Google’s part. The majority of HTML5-enabled video on the net uses H.264 and most of the time was put in place to help support the iPad and other devices that don’t have built-in Flash. The fate of WebM is still unknown. This is in spite of Google’s continued insistence’s, the MPEG-LA standards group, Apple and Microsoft have warned that WebM may violate patents and without royalty payments, could face legal troubles. Some have all accused Google of hypocrisy due to its relationship to Adobe. Even though Chrome makes claims of only supporting open video formats, Google still not only endorses use of Adobe’s proprietary Flash standard but also integrates it directly into Chrome. The move by Google actually eliminates Chrome from the list of eligible browsers for certain tools, such as large-scale video encoders. Right now, most professional video editing tools don’t support WebM and Google isn’t likely to receive any support for Final Cut Studio outside of an official plugin.

If the move by Google goes through, will you stick with Chrome or will you move on to another browser? Which browser do you currently use and why? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.

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