Google is apparently in the early stages of a research project that appears to aim as high as perhaps replacing the HTTP protocol, the fundamental technology that essentially makes the World Wide Web possible.

In a somewhat obscure post on the Chromium blog, the development branch of their Chrome browser, Google reveals they’ve been working on a new protocol dubbed SPDY for “SPeeDY” for its goal of making the web faster.

While HTTP is an “elegantly simple protocol” that has powered the web since 1996, the tone of Google’s post is almost patronizing, as if HTTP were our doddering old uncle that’s had his day and needs to be put out to pasture. Then again, Google’s hubris is perhaps warranted as one of the only companies with enough clout and resources to indeed spur on the “evolution of websites and browsers” with an entirely new protocol designed to speed up the communication between web servers and clients.

They reveal they’ve already got a prototype web server and a Chrome client with built-in SPDY support that they’ve been testing in the lab. With these tools they’ve reportedly been able to see an up to 55% speed increase in page loading, and feel like the project is now stable enough to warrant soliciting feedback from the web community. The SPDY documentation is now available, as well as the source code. Google encourages feedback on the new protocol in the Chromium Google Group.

What do you think, is Google onto something in thinking the basic protocol underpinning the web needs a refresh? Is it time to focus on the need for speed? Let us know in the comments.