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A November 2026 blog post argues that websites and social platforms should support AVIF more widely as hardware and hosting costs rise. AVIF can produce smaller image files at comparable visual quality, but the post does not provide measurements of potential savings or evidence of a broad industry shift.
A blogger is urging websites and social platforms to support the AVIF image format more widely, arguing that its potential for smaller files at comparable image quality could help limit storage and bandwidth use as hardware and hosting costs rise. The post is an argument for industry adoption, not an announcement of a coordinated change or evidence that providers are making the switch.
The post, published by Michael Ponders in November 2026, points to higher prices and tighter availability for hard drives, SSDs and NVMe storage, alongside hosting providers’ price increases during the year. It cites Hetzner as one provider that has raised prices multiple times in 2026, saying the company attributed those increases to rising hardware costs. The post offers no figures for the increases and does not establish how widespread they are across the hosting market.
Ponders argues that wider use of AVIF for images could reduce the amount of data services need to store and deliver. The post says AVIF generally compresses images more effectively than WebP while maintaining comparable visual quality. It also acknowledges that encoding AVIF can require more processing, and suggests users could convert files on their own devices before uploading them. Services would still need to generate thumbnails and handle compatibility, the post says.
The blogger says they use AVIF where platforms support it and WebP where they do not. They also call for more support in phone cameras and image workflows, and say HEIC should be supported alongside AVIF. The post mentions AV1 and AV2 in connection with video, but its central proposal is wider use of efficient formats—not a claim that image and video services have agreed to adopt them.
Potential Savings for Web Services
If services adopt formats that produce smaller files at similar visual quality, they could use less storage and network bandwidth for images. That could matter to independent websites and smaller hosting firms, which may have fewer resources to absorb rising infrastructure expenses than large technology companies. The post presents this as a possible benefit; it provides no analysis quantifying savings or showing how much AVIF adoption would affect hosting bills.
Any gains would depend on more than the format’s compression performance. Providers would need compatible upload and display systems, a plan for older browsers or devices, and a decision about whether to preserve originals or convert them. Additional encoding can also require computing resources. The practical question is whether reduced file size offsets those costs across a service’s particular workload.
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The Cost and Compatibility Trade-Off
The post links its proposal to two developments it describes: increases in storage hardware costs and hosting price rises in 2026. It says demand for hardware associated in part with the AI boom may be contributing to pressure on availability and prices, while acknowledging that these conditions may not resolve quickly. The article does not provide market data to measure the scale of that effect or forecast when supply might recover.
AVIF is presented as a more efficient alternative to WebP for images, but adopting a format across the web requires support throughout the process: taking or converting an image, uploading it, storing it, and displaying it. Ponders argues that user-side conversion could reduce the processing providers perform. He also recognizes that services may still need to create thumbnails and maintain compatibility with other formats.
The post extends the discussion to video, citing a possible YouTube move to AV2 as early as 2027. That is framed in the source as a potential future development, not a confirmed schedule or an announcement by YouTube. It is separate from the call for websites and social networks to make broader use of AVIF for still images.
Adoption and Savings Remain Unmeasured
The post does not identify any new commitments by hosting providers, Mastodon, Bluesky, phone makers or other services to expand AVIF support. It also offers no data on current AVIF usage, the amount of storage or bandwidth it could save, or whether those savings would exceed added encoding and compatibility costs for particular services.
The scale and duration of the cited hardware and hosting price pressures are not established in the source. The possible YouTube use of AV2 is likewise described as a future possibility, with no confirmed timing supplied. It remains unclear which platforms will make changes, what formats they will support, and whether users will see lower costs as a result.
Provider Support Is the Next Test
The next concrete developments would be announcements from hosting companies, social platforms and device makers about whether they will accept, preserve or serve AVIF files more broadly. Such decisions would clarify whether the post’s proposal is gaining traction beyond individual users converting images themselves.
To evaluate the case for adoption, providers would need to compare file sizes, image quality, processing requirements and compatibility across their own services. The post gives no deadline for such work and reports no planned industry process. Any wider change is therefore still a proposal, with its practical value dependent on provider support and measured results.
Key Questions
What is the proposed change?
The blogger calls for wider AVIF support for images on websites, social platforms and phones, while advocating WebP where AVIF is unavailable.
Why does the post favor AVIF?
It says AVIF generally achieves better compression than WebP at comparable visual quality, which could mean smaller files. The source supplies no benchmark data or estimate of overall savings.
Have major platforms committed to adopting AVIF?
No commitments are reported. The post urges platforms including Mastodon and Bluesky to do more, but it does not announce a change by those services.
Would AVIF solve rising hardware costs?
No. The blogger says format changes would not resolve hardware shortages, though they might help services use storage and bandwidth more efficiently. The size of any benefit is unknown.
Is YouTube moving to AV2 in 2027?
The source describes YouTube’s possible AV2 streaming as a future development that could happen as early as 2027. It does not provide a confirmed schedule or a direct YouTube announcement.
Source: michaelponders.com
