UK competition watchdog launches probe into Facebook buying GIF sharing platform Giphy for £330million
- Facebook announced it would be buying animation website Giphy in May
- The takeover deal is expected to cost around $400million (£330million)
- UK regulators said the deal could cause the ‘serious lessening of competition’
- The merger was set to see Giphy increase its activity with Instagram
Facebook’s recent purchase of GIF-making website Giphy is being investigated by British regulators.
The social media giant bought the animation website in May for a fee believed to be around $400million (£330million).
But the acquisition is being investigated over claims the deal could lead to a ‘substantial lessening of competition in any market or markets in the United Kingdom’, according to The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
Facebook’s takeover of GIF-making website Giphy is being investigated after claims it could stifle competition with other UK brands
Giphy is a popular animation tool which helps members of the public produce GIFs, which are animated images often used in online interactions.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company has already integrated Giphy’s user-uploaded animation library, with over 50 per cent of its traffic so far coming from Facebook’s platforms, which include Messenger and WhatsApp.
The takeover of Giphy was set to see the social media giant integrate the animation tool with Instagram, another popular platform owned by Facebook which also contributes to the animation website’s traffic.
However, the CMA have asked for Instagram and Giphy to remain separate while the investigation goes ahead.
A spokesperson for Facebook said on Friday: ‘We are prepared to show regulators that this acquisition is positive for consumers, developers, and content creators alike.’
Other social media sites such as Twitter, Snapchat and TikTok use Giphy on their platforms, with Facebook maintaining after the purchase that the animation website’s relationship with these companies will not change.
Giphy already contributes to other social media sites such as Snapchat and TikTok (both pictured), with the Facebook deal set to see the animation website increase its activity with Instagram, which is owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s company
The investigation into the takeover begins on Friday, with the CMA inviting comments on the transaction from any interested party.
Speaking back in May, Giphy announced it was excited to begin an official partnership with Instagram, via Facebook.
A statement read: ‘More than one billion people use Instagram to communicate how they’re feeling and what they’re passionate about — we can’t wait to help those people become even more animated.
‘We’ve had a lot of fun teaming up with Instagram over the years; GIPHY’s Stickers were the perfect fit for layering on Instagram Stories, while our GIF search allowed everyone to capture that perfect emotion in Instagram’s DMs.
‘Based on the success of those collaborations (and many others) we know that there are exciting times ahead of us.’