Seems like the same question to me.<p>An API is an API. Google is part of the W3C, probably a very important part of it.<p>I used to be a W3C member, and remember how this worked. The big companies drove the process. They met privately and hashed things out between themselves. Then it was &quot;debated&quot; but somehow the decision that was arrived at was always the ones they wanted to make.<p>It&#x27;s a way of making it look like an open process when it really isn&#x27;t.<p>In any case, the problem for a developer is the same no matter who is doing the deprecating. You just built on something that&#x27;s going away. You have some users. Not enough to matter to the big companies. You&#x27;re burned. So now next time will you just go ahead and implement the API they want you to. Not unless you&#x27;re an idiot! ;-)<p>Speaking as an idiot of this kind myself. I&#x27;ve been burned many times by this process.