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Facebook buys Giphy, popular tool for creating animated GIFs

Facebook says it plans to integrate Giphy into Instagram.

Facebook says it plans to integrate Giphy into Instagram. Photo: Supplied

Facebook is snapping up Giphy in a deal reported to be worth $US400 million ($A621 million), and the social giant plans to combine the GIF and sticker-sharing company’s services primarily with Instagram.

“Giphy makes everyday conversations more entertaining, and so we plan to further integrate their GIF library into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just the right way to express themselves,” Facebook VP of product Vishal Shah said in announcing the acquisition Friday.

As of the end of 2019, Giphy claimed its “visual expression and creation” service reached about 700 million people daily and that users sent about 10 billion pieces of content per day.

According to Facebook, 50 per cent of Giphy’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps – and of that, half is 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,” Facebook’s Shah said.

“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.”

Investors in Giphy, founded in 2013, included Betaworks, Lerer Hippeau, CAA Ventures, IVP, DFJ Growth, GGV Capital, CMC Capital Growth and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

-AAP

Topics: Facebook
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