GIFs have become the universal language of the internet. And while they have infiltrated all corners of life online, they are especially ubiquitous on social media. Facebook recognizes this, so it’s buying one of the internet’s largest suppliers of GIFs — Giphy.
Facebook announced that it was acquiring NYC-based Giphy on Friday. While the official announcement didn’t say how much Facebook was paying, Axios reports that the deal is valued at $400 million. According to Axios, Facebook was already in talks to acquire Giphy before the pandemic started.
Giphy is part search engine and part GIF hosting platform. Users can search through a huge database of GIFs to find one that fits their needs or upload their own. Plus, it has trending and related sections, which help you discover more.
Hundreds of millions of people use Giphy every day to find their GIFs. Facebook reports that 50 percent of Giphy’s traffic already comes from the Facebook family of apps, which include Facebook, Messenger, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Facebook says it’s merging Giphy into its Instagram team. It adds that this merger will help Facebook build more Giphy integrations for its multiple platforms, so keep an eye out for Giphy to start popping up in more places like Instagram stories or DMs.
Giphy has raised over $150 million in funding, according to Crunchbase data.
