In a deal rumored to have begun before the Pandemic hit, Facebook has decided to acquire Giphy for a reported $400 million. Giphy.com is the website that introduced the world to gifs. The massive video library will now be under Facebook’s control, with them refusing to disclose details of the deal. You can read the official announcement here.
Founded in 2013, Giphy was originally a search engine for gifs. The company managed to raise more than $150 Million in VC funding since it was found, with investors such as Betaworks (which incubated the company), Lerer Hippeau, IVP, DFJ Growth, GGV Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. This would lead to increased popularity. This was such that within its first year of operations, users could share the content on Facebook and later on twitter as well.
Facebook claims that almost 50% of the traffic that the website gets is from Facebook’s own apps and websites. These include Facebook itself, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. This is true as Giphy provides built-in sticker functions for Instagram, meaning it will join the team after the acquisition.
With this deal, Facebook aims to further integrate Giphy into all its platforms. They will do this through additional tech investments, improving its content and development. Facebook’s marketing and sales’ firepower could transform it into an extremely profitable venture. Giphy will be keeping control of its branding, with the main integration taking place through Instagram, as mentioned above.
This will be one of the many acquisitions that Facebook has undertaken and may even go under the radar in comparison. Facebook has come under immense scrutiny for its previous acquisitions, and do not be surprised if the same happens here. WhatsApp and Instagram are just a few examples of these business acquisitions, with Facebook slowly overtaking the social media industry step by step. Additionally, The company is also under investigation for antitrust by US government officials. Are these acquisitions ethical? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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