Facebook acquired Giphy, the GIF-sharing service that will now become part of Instagram. The plans of the social network of Zuckerberg they are the ones to integrate Giphy's animated GIF libraries in a deeper way within Instagram, where they are mainly used in Stories, and in other Facebook services.
It is not clear how much Facebook has offered for the acquisition of Giphy: the Menlo Park company has not officially communicated any figures, but some rumors speak of a sum of about 400 million dollars. "By bringing Instagram and Giphy closer together, we can make it easier for people to find GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct Messages," said Vishal Shah, vice president of product for Facebook.
The company has been using APIs for years to integrate Giphy's GIFs into its services, and Instagram alone is already responsible for 25% of Giphy's daily traffic, while another 25% comes from other Facebook ecosystem apps.
For the immediate future Facebook does not intend to exclude other realities from Giphy's services: "We will continue to keep Giphy available for a wider ecosystem." Access to Giphy's animated GIF library will therefore still be possible with APIs, as well as stickers and emojis. Giphy services are used today by realities such as Twitter, Slack, Skype, Tinder and Samsung.