Would it be worth it to use protocol buffers just for the serialization. To replace a current traditional variant. So not for small http communication but for larger persistent storage. Does it help for versioning purposes and preparing for the future when your product might go from traditional to web. Performance aside, it's a clear win there. It seems you have some overhead against in-code solutions (separate .proto files) but it may pay off in versioning and future of your product given all movements to Web etc.