Facebook announced it is acquiring Giphy, with plans to integrate it into the Instagram platform.
Giphy is a popular service that lets users share short, looped videos, reminiscent of animated GIFs. The service is widely used in text messaging, social media and more. Facebook already uses the Giphy API across its many services, including Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and WhatsApp. The social media giant sees the purchase as a way to increase integration and improve the user experience even more.
“A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY,” writes Vishal Shah, Facebook VP of Product. “In fact, 50% of GIPHY’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone. By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct. Both our services are big supporters of the creator and artist community, and that will continue. Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world.”
While Facebook did not comment on the particulars of the deal, Axios reported that its sources claimed the deal was worth some $400 million. As Axios points out, however, given the scrutiny Facebook has been under recently for privacy and antitrust concerns, this deal is likely to attract regulatory attention. Even so, Facebook is striking an optimistic tone regarding the acquisition.
“GIFs and stickers give people meaningful and creative ways to express themselves,” continues Shah. “We see the positivity in how people use GIPHY in our products today, and we know that bringing the GIPHY team’s creativity and talent together with ours will only accelerate how people use visual communication to connect with each other.”
