Facebook has bought Giphy for $400 million, plans to integrate it with Instagram

It looks like Facebook is on a buying spree and has set its sights on Giphy, the popular GIF-making and sharing site. The company is reportedly shelling out $400 million for the website and is looking to integrate it with Instagram and other apps owned by Facebook. The news was first reported by Axios. The company says that integration with Instagram is “so that people can find the right way to express themselves”. Giphy will also continue to run its library, for now. 

The popular Gif-making website is essentially a repository of GIFs that can be shared on other applications and even companies like Slack and even Twitter have Giphy built into their systems. In fact, Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp already include the service in all their apps. Vishal Shah, Instagram VP of product said in a blog post, “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.”

It is not known how other apps like Twitter, Slack, Reddit and more will handle the acquisition but we will definitely find out more in the coming weeks. In other news, Facebook has invested $5.7 billion in JioPlatforms. You can read more about the story here. The company has also launched its own gaming app which will take on Twitch and Youtube. You can read more about that story here. You can also access Dark Mode on the Facebook desktop app. You can find out more, here.