Google Chrome To Get Hefty Speed Boost With ‘Brotli’ Compression Engine

Google claims that it uses a “whole new data format” that manages to squeeze down web page content by an impressive amount-apparently squashing HTML, CSS and JavaScript down by 17-25 percent more than Zopfli.

Why? Google’s been testing a new compression algorithm called Brotli.

Google Chrome is the most popular web browser, but it still has its flaws. Because Brotli is a new data format, it needs to be adopted and supported by rival browsers such as Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge if it is to be successful. The vastly superior compression engine means that Chrome users should experience faster page loads across the board (and we’re hoping a reduced need for memory and processing resources as well, as Chrome is getting to be big, fat resource hog these days).

It does that while also achieving comparable decompression speeds which, it might not surprise you to hear, “allows for better space utilization and faster page loads”.

And as more data is being compressed – mobile users can expect to use less mobile data as they browse the web. Brotli is now in the “intent to ship” stage of the Chrome development cycle so should make it into the next public release unless a major bug is found before then.

If you’re anxious to give it a try right now, download Google’s developer-focused browser variant, Chrome Canary.