Facebook Buys Giphy for $400 Million, Will Integrate it Into Instagram
Facebook has just acquired the massive GIF library and creation platform Giphy, with plans to integrate the service more fully into Instagram. The purchase reportedly cost Facebook $400 million, though terms were not officially disclosed.
The purchase was officially announced this morning, when Facebook’s VP of Product Vishal Shah welcomed Giphy to the Facebook family in a blog post titled “Facebook Welcomes GIPHY as Part of Instagram Team.” The acquisition was a natural fit, says Shah, who revealed that Facebook’s apps already account for half of Giphy’s traffic.
“A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY,” writes Shah. “In fact, 50% of GIPHY’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone.”
The integration won’t mean much for the regular old photo sharing side of things on Instagram, but both Stories and Direct Messages will see deeper integration and a broadening GIF library as a result. Shah also assured current users of Giphy’s creation tools and API that the service isn’t going anywhere, at least for now.
“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,” writes Shah. “We’re looking forward to investing further in its technology and relationships with content and API partners.”
Specifics about the deal were revealed by Axios, who said the deal cost Facebook in the neighborhood of $400 million, about $200 million less than Giphy’s latest valuation.
(via Engadget)
