Meta has completed the sale of Giphy, the animated-GIF search engine, to Shutterstock for $53 million (£42 million). This comes just three years after Meta acquired Giphy for $400 million.
The sale was prompted by a competition order issued by the UK’s competition watchdog last year. Giphy is a major provider of animated gifs to popular social networks like Snapchat, TikTok, and Twitter.
As part of the deal, Meta’s platforms including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp will still have access to Giphy’s content.
Giphy boasts impressive daily statistics, with over 1.3 billion search queries and a total of 15 billion content views.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) initially ordered the sale in November 2021, citing concerns about competition in the social media and advertising sectors.
Meta had previously indicated that Giphy would be available to other social networks upon acquisition, but the CMA’s investigation determined that such a move would harm competition.
The CMA’s decision to block the deal marked the first time the regulator had rejected a major Silicon Valley company’s acquisition.
In September, Meta appealed to the CMA in an attempt to prevent the sale, arguing that gifs had become less popular among younger users. However, in October, Meta ultimately agreed to comply with the CMA’s order.
Shutterstock expressed enthusiasm about acquiring Giphy, highlighting its value in enabling users to express themselves and allowing brands to participate in casual conversations.
Giphy’s extensive library is fueled by contributions from individual artists and companies like Disney and Netflix, ensuring a continuous supply of current content for everyday conversations and social media sharing.
