WebP

WebP is a modern graphics compression format developed by Google in 2010. It was developed in response to the need for more efficient storage of images on the Internet, combining the advantages of both lossy (JPEG) and lossless (PNG) formats. WebP is based on the VP8 compression technology used in video, allowing for better file size reduction while maintaining high quality.

Applications

WebP is widely used on websites, especially in the context of optimising website loading speed. It is supported by browsers such as Chrome, Edge and Firefox, as well as CMS platforms (e.g. WordPress). It can store static images, animations and support transparency (alpha channel), making it a valid alternative to both JPEG, PNG and GIF.

Advantages of

• Smaller file sizes (25-35% smaller than JPEG, up to 26% smaller than PNG).
• Support for transparency without the size increase as in PNG.
• Animation capability, providing an alternative to GIF.
• Faster page loading due to reduced file weight.

Size comparison (example image 100 KB in JPEG)

• JPEG - 100 KB
• PNG - 200 KB
• WebP - 70 KB (lossy) / 90 KB (lossless)

In my opinion, the best compression results can be obtained for files containing an alpha channel. The example file (used on my video editing company's website), originally over 3 MB in size, is less than 100 KB when converted to WebP, with the quality set to 70%.
It is a file over 95% smaller than the original while maintaining an identical look!!! This is amazing. Download the example file and try it yourself :-)

Thanks to its properties, WebP makes a significant contribution to improving the performance of web pages. Find out more on the google WebP developers page