Observed Signal · May 24, 2023 · Partnership · Source: OnlineMarketing.de · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Meta Sells GIPHY to Shutterstock
Meta acquired the GIF platform GIPHY in 2020 for about $400 million, but antitrust regulators required the divestiture. The CMA blocked the takeover in 2021 and, in 2022, issued a final ruling that Meta must sell GIPHY due to competition concerns. Shutterstock has agreed to acquire GIPHY for $53 million, with closing planned for June 2023. GIPHY handles roughly 1.3 billion daily search queries and has media partners including Disney, Netflix, the NFL, the MLB, and the NBA. Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy framed the purchase as expanding Shutterstock into casual conversations and leveraging content and metadata monetization, generative AI, studio production, and creative automation to monetize the GIF library. Meta faces a substantial loss from the forced sale, effectively eroding a significant portion of GIPHY’s value.
Notable high-profile acquisition involving Meta and GIPHY; potential impact on GIF platform licensing and advertising ecosystem.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Meta bought GIPHY in 2020 for about $400 million.
- UK CMA blocked the takeover in 2021; final ruling in 2022 required Meta to sell GIPHY due to competition concerns.
- Shutterstock agreed to acquire GIPHY for $53 million; closing planned for June 2023.
- GIPHY handles about 1.3 billion daily search queries and counts Disney, Netflix, the NFL, the MLB, and the NBA among media partners.
- Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy described the acquisition as expanding into casual conversations and monetizing via content/metadata, generative AI, studio production, and creative automation.
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Ben Affleck's AI Knowledge Goes Viral
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