Ars examines Chrome and Firefox bookmark sync protocols

“In a recent announcement, Xmarks revealed that it can no longer
afford to continue operating its popular cross-browser bookmark
synchronization service. Although Xmarks attracted a significant
audience of users, the company was never able to build a
sustainable business around the software. Xmarks cofounder Todd
Agulnick says that the lights are scheduled to go out in 90 days
unless the company can come up with a successful freemium strategy
or a buyer emerges.

“This is a disappointing development for those of us who rely on
Xmarks’ excellent browser add-ons and reliable synchronization
service. A number of popular Web browsers have their own built-in
synchronization offerings, but none appear to be truly conducive to
cross-browser synchronization. This inspired me to take a close
look at the bookmark sync APIs in Firefox and Chrome in order to
evaluate their conduciveness to third-party interoperability and
determine if the potential exists for an Xmarks successor to
emerge.

“What I found are a lot of challenges and not a lot of easy
solutions. The native synchronization services for Chrome and
Firefox are compelling and have a lot of potential, but
interoperability doesn’t yet appear to be an immediate priority for
either one at this stage. Chrome”

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