The shares of Facebook increased by 1.2% when it closed at $209.19 after the Friday trading session at the New York Stock Exchange.
The social media giant had announced earlier on Friday via its news page that a leader in visual expression and creation, GIPHY, was joining the company as part of the Instagram team. Though Facebook has not disclosed the worth of the deal report confirmed that it was a $400 million deal.
What it means: The development would give Facebook’s Instagram users to express themselves in the right way, as the acquisition would further integrate the user’s GIF library into Instagram.
It stated, “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.
“A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY. In fact, 50% of GIPHY’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that 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.
“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.”
What Facebook plans
The social media giant disclosed that it would invest further in its technology and relationships with content and PI partners and that users 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.
“We’ve used GIPHY’s API for years, not just in Instagram, but in the Facebook app, Messenger and WhatsApp. GIPHY will continue to operate its library (including its global content collection).”
Founded by Jace Cooke and Alex Chung, GIPHY is an American online database and search engine that allows users to search for and share short looping videos with no sound, that resemble animated GIF files.
