Facebook is buying the popular GIF-making and sharing website Giphy for a reported price of $400 million, with plans to integrate the massive GIF library into Instagram and other Facebook apps. News of the deal was first reported by Axios, which revealed the $400 million value of the deal.
Giphy was founded by Alex Chung and Jace Cooke in early 2013, first as a search engine for GIFs. The service proved immensely popular right out of the gate and shortly after, it was expanded to share GIFs on both Facebook and Twitter.
Under its new ownership, Giphy will live on as part of the Instagram team, with the goal of making it even easier to send GIFs and stickers in Instagram stories and direct messages. For now, though, Facebook says that things will remain the same for Giphy users.
“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,” Vishal Shah, Instagram’s VP of product, said in a blog post announcing the news.
Sources familiar with the matter told Axios that the companies started talking before the pandemic although initially, it was more about a partnership than an acquisition.
Looking ahead, Giphy will continue to operate as users have come to expect. Users will still be able to upload GIFs, developers and API partners will still have the same level of access they enjoy today and the creative community will still be able to “create great content.”
