Facebook buys GIF website Giphy to integrate with Instagram
- The cost of the deal, which was not disclosed, is believed to be in the region of US$400 million
Facebook Inc is acquiring Giphy, a popular website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, and will integrate it with its rapidly growing Instagram photo-sharing app, Facebook said in a blog post on Friday.
The cost, which Facebook and Giphy declined to disclose, was placed at around US$400 million by news website Axios.
The announcement comes at a time when the largest social media network is under scrutiny from regulators over antitrust concerns. In 2015 Giphy rebuffed a Facebook offer, choosing instead to continue integrating its products with multiple social media platforms, according to news site TechCrunch.
Both companies declined to comment on any earlier talks.
Giphy will become part of Instagram, the photo-sharing site owned by Facebook. Its GIF library, which can integrate with other apps, will be further integrated into Instagram and other Facebook-owned apps, the companies said.
“People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to GIPHY’s APIs; and GIPHY’s creative community will still be able to create great content,” said Vishal Shah, Instagram’s vice-president of product, in the blog post.