Giphy Joins Instagram

Giphy, the search engine and online database for users to share videos, is joining Facebook as part of the Instagram team, Facebook announced on Friday (May 15). 

“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,” Instagram VP of Product Vishal Shah said in the announcement.

Shah said lots of people in the Facebook and Instagram community already know and love Giphy. In fact, he noted 50 percent of Giphy’s traffic comes from Facebook apps, half of that from Instagram alone.

By combining Instagram and Giphy, he said it will make it easier for people to find GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct.

Both services, Shah said, are fans of the artist community and that will continue.

“Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world,” he said. “We’ve used Giphy’s API [application programming interface] for years, not just in Instagram, but in the Facebook app, Messenger and WhatsApp.”

Giphy will continue to operate its library and its global content collection, and they plan to invest more in its technology and relationships with content and API partners.

Shah did not provide details.

The new arrangement will allow users to still upload GIFs, developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to Giphy’s APIs and Giphy’s community will still be able to be creative, Shah added.

“GIFs and stickers give people meaningful and creative ways to express themselves,” he said. “We see the positivity in how people use Giphy in our products today, and we know that bringing the Giphy team’s creativity and talent together with ours will only accelerate how people use visual communication to connect with each other.”