Open source protobuf messages derive from google::protobuf::MessageLite.
GTest enables ProtbufPrinter based on:
template <typename T>
struct IsAProtocolMessage
: public std::is_convertible<const T*, const ::proto2::MessageLite*> {};
So open-source protobufs are printed as bytes.
This was previously closed as "inactive": #1102
The issue still occurs at current master.