They should not have released it without a much longer open comment period, if they expected anyone else to implement it. VP8 had barely just come out of hiding from a private company and hadn't been reviewed.
I have known the author of WebP (he previously worked on XviD) and I'm pretty sure it was his pet project.
I have known the author of WebP (he previously worked on XviD) and I'm pretty sure it was his pet project.