I guess you could send changes to the DB on-the-fly inside a transaction, so when the user clicks "save" it's just a matter of running COMMIT? Not sure what effect that would have on performance as the transaction grows, though.
I wouldn't say the chance is exactly zero - if Google's monopolistic behaviour surrounding Chrome (the "install our browser!" nags on their web properties come to mind) get too egregious, they may be forced to divest via antitrust law.