Quote from tcm66:
As to why, my guess is that IB has decided to enhance the value of their operation to traders by eliminating the inherent conflict of interest when the brokerage firm's own market maker takes the other side of your trade --- you never really know if you are getting the best price available on the market, but in general you can be justifiably suspicious that you are not. Even the inherent latency of the Internet can provide riskless opportunities for the MM (and all the major houses have their in-house MMs, not just IB).
If my guess is correct, then it is because IB has judged that they can pick up a lot more business from big traders who really really dislike being picked off by in-house MMs --- and IB's bottom line can significantly improve from the resultant increase in trading volume, margin interest charged, etc.