Discussion

• @moxie Moxie Marlinspike on x

  Now that Giphy has been acquired by FB, many have reached out to ask whether we should be concerned about Giphy search in Signal. Signal already uses a privacy preserving approach to prevent gif search providers from receiving user data: https://signal.org/...

• @xor Parker Higgins on x

  Given Facebook's GIPHY acquisition, Signal's highly engineered privacy preservation for something “frivolous” like gif search seems pretty prescient https://signal.org/... https://twitter.com/...

• @bran_dj @bran_dj on x

  So giphy is just surveillance wrapped in copyright violations masked as a shared language using advertising as culture https://twitter.com/...

• @williamturton William Turton on x

  My first thought: there is now a Facebook product built into Signal https://www.axios.com/...

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  How exactly Facebook will collect, store, and use that data is not clear yet, as far as I can tell. For what it's worth they told @lmatsakis they won't tie it to specific individuals. That's the kind of thing we'd probably want to see in writing somewhere. https://www.wired.com/.…

• @glenngabe Glenn Gabe on x

  “The site will continue to operate.” Yep, I'm sure it will :) -> How Facebook Could Use Giphy to Collect Your Data “Giphy wraps each of its animated GIFs in a special format that helps the image load faster, and also embeds a tiny piece of Javascript...” https://onezero.medium.co…

• @ozm OneZero on x

  Giphy wraps each of its GIFs in a format that helps images load faster, and also embeds a tiny piece of Javascript that lets the company know where the image is being loaded, as well as a tracking identifier that helps follow your browsing across the web. http://read.medium.com/O…

• @josheidelson Josh Eidelson on x

  “Giphy provides the same search service to many of Facebook's competitors, Apple Inc.'s iMessage, Twitter, Signal, TikTok & others. The company has a view of the health of those platforms and how often people use them, which is exactly the kind of insight Facebook values most...”…

• @willoremus Will Oremus on x

  If you use Giphy, you need to read this story about all the data it collects when you use its gifs. With today's acquisition, all of that data will become Facebook's. https://onezero.medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jamespmcleod @jamespmcleod on x

  Facebook buying Giphy is a data harvesting play to see what people are saying and doing on services run by Facebook's competitors. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @can @can on x

  Does this mean the gifs embedded in our IMs are also now Facebook tracking beacons? Is this why Facebook bought them? https://twitter.com/...

• @justicar Glenn White on x

  Now is an excellent time to uninstall Giphy in all of your tool sets and services. They're still going to get tons of data on your usage, but no need to continue to feed it. https://twitter.com/...

• @quinnypig Corey Quinn on x

  Well, time for a Giphy alternative. “I don't trust Facebook” is an incredible understatement. They're effectively a criminal enterprise at this point. https://twitter.com/...

• @chronotope Aram Zucker-Scharff on x

  Gif directories are of no intrinsic monetary value except by providing additional value to other services; withdrawing that value from those other services; or using the download process to track you across the web. Have fun watching that integration.

• @jonfortt Jon Fortt on x

  My take: Facebook buying Giphy is less about engagement and more about data. Think about it: Even if FB can't see the private messages you're sending, if they can see the GIFs you're searching for, they get a clue about how you're thinking & feeling. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @sbisson @sbisson on x

  Time to disconnect Giphy from enterprise social tools like Teams and Slack. Your corporate chat streams are going to be full of Facebook tracking beacons if you don't...

• @giphy @giphy on x

  We're so excited to share some news - GIPHY has been acquired by @Facebook and is joining the @Instagram team! 🎉 Read more here: https://medium.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @vivekxk @vivekxk on x

  1/5 Seems like the Giphy deal is strategically great for FB and probably gave Giphy the lifeline it needed. FB gets valuable intelligence - Giphy is embedded into many top apps and the SDK requires disclosing user deviceIDs. What? You thought they bought it for the gifs?

• @telegram Telegram Messenger on x

  @draane_ Yes, the Giphy API sees the search term, but doesn't get any of your data and doesn't know who you are.

• @facebook @facebook on x

  Welcome to the family, @GIPHY! https://about.fb.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @vectorpoem @vectorpoem on x

  It's cool how Giphy selling to FB is a reminder that economic crashes are an opportunity for already-huge evil companies to snap up smaller companies that can't weather the storm. Anyway use @firefox with the Facebook Container feature to block their tracking as much as possible.…

• @mathewi Mathew Ingram on x

  At $400 million, Facebook's Giphy acquisition is just a hair behind the largest media acquisition of the last decade or so, Axel Springer's purchase of Business Insider in 2015 https://twitter.com/...

• @kellymakena Makena Kelly on x

  Facebook's Giphy acquisition is sounding the antitrust alarms in Congress. Statements from @SenAmyKlobuchar, @HawleyMO, and a @SenWarren spokesperson here: https://www.theverge.com/...

• @dhof Dom Hofmann on x

  since this is more important now, a reminder that giphy's client SDK requires developers to give access to the device tracking ID

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  Facebook just bought the world's largest archive of DMCA takedown requests. The due diligence memo must have been awesome. https://twitter.com/...

• @alexeheath Alex Heath on x

  Quick story up: Facebook is buying Giphy for around $300 million, sources tell me and @KateClarkTweets. That's about a 50% haircut from its last known valuation 4 years ago. https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @axios @axios on x

  A source close to the situation says that Facebook and Giphy first began talking prior to the pandemic, although that was more about a partnership than an acquisition. https://www.axios.com/...

• @danielbru Daniel Brusilovsky on x

  Huge congrats to the @GIPHY team on their acquisition by Facebook! The @imoji team was a small part of the journey, and I couldn't be more excited for the outcome. https://medium.com/...

• @slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x

  Good. This should be a bipartisan effort. It places too much power in hands of a company that controls the way much of the world communicates. @facebook and @instagram should be broken up already. Instead, they're being allowed to further cement their monopoly. https://twitter.co…

• @mrbrown @mrbrown on x

  Well, GIPHY, it was fun while it lasted. https://twitter.com/...

• @senblumenthal Richard Blumenthal on x

  Facebook's acquisition of GIPHY is yet another attempt to dominate the market & taunt our competition laws. Antitrust enforcers at the DOJ & FTC must stand up & make sure that the COVID-19 pandemic is not a pretense for corporate behemoths to prey on struggling startups. https://…

• @hynek Hynek Schlawack on x

  «Of course Giphy is going to retain its own brand. If they renamed it to “Facebook Tracking Pixels”, usage might drop off.» 🔥🔥🔥 https://daringfireball.net/...

• @gregghoush Gregg Housh on x

  Great... Think of Giphy as a giant shareable tracking tool. This complements the coverage of the Facebook Pixel well. Used in privacy-conscious areas that might not have FB Pixel coverage such as private communications and security/privacy-minded apps https://www.axios.com/...

• @bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x

  I do not understand how this isn't a clear antitrust violation. https://twitter.com/...

• @janelytv @janelytv on x

  Here's a statement from Signal on privacy concerns around FB's acquisition of Giphy: From the very start, Signal has hidden search terms from gif search providers using a privacy-preserving proxy, and the Giphy SDK isn't included in the app at all. https://signal.org/...

• @mikeisaac Rat King on x

  this is a good thread on the strategic value of FB buying Giphy funny to think that they can keep recreating the onavo acquisition in the future, always keeping an eye on the competition https://twitter.com/...

• @markgurman Mark Gurman on x

  As @sarahfrier points out, the built-in GIF button in iMessage is Giphy. At the very least, Giphy theoretically could know what GIFs iMessage users send. Unclear if or what other data they could glean, or what their agreement with Apple is. https://twitter.com/...

• @seldo Laurie Voss on x

  I'm often critical of dumb startup ideas but you know what, all credit to Giphy for believing that you could make a $400m business of just sharing GIFs. I never believed it but they were right. https://www.axios.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  My analysis: With the Giphy buy, Facebook will get a ton of insight into how people are using Twitter, iMessage, Slack, TikTok, etc. And that's why it's worth it to buy them, not just invest. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

• @quinnypig Corey Quinn on x

  Facebook Tracking Pixels now larger, funnier. https://twitter.com/...

• @mattsta Matt Stancliff on x

  giphy is acquired for $400 million. last round in 2016 valued them at $600 million. giphy raised $150 million in funding between 2014-2016. if investors bought amazon stock instead of “investing” in “giphy,” their $150 million would be $600 million today—good job genius vcs!

• @bafeldman Brian Feldman on x

  giphy's centralization of “reaction gifs” has made internet culture objectively worse so this acquisition makes perfect sense https://twitter.com/...

• @edzitron Ed Zitron on x

  Lol come on https://twitter.com/...

• @paulbernaluk Paul Bernal on x

  We should really be stopping Facebook buying *anything*.... https://twitter.com/...

• @howardlindzon Bearista on x

  Big miss again by Twitter. The board is busy sharing photos on Facebook. https://twitter.com/...

• @alexhern @alexhern on x

  everything must be owned by five companies https://twitter.com/...

• @db @db on x

  Maybe now they'll solve the issue of Giphy gifs not playing natively on Facebook. Opening a pop up browser to see a gif is annoying and counterintuitive. https://twitter.com/...

• @pixlpa Andrew Benson on x

  I'd love to get a lovingly crafted email covering what this means for artists on the Giphy Arts platform soon. https://twitter.com/...

• @josephfcox Joseph Cox on x

  Facebook is acquiring GIPHY for $400 million ( https://www.axios.com/...) Messaging app Signal has a GIPHY implementation. I asked Signal's founder Moxie Marlinspike whether Signal will keep using it; he pointed to Signal's privacy approach: https://signal.org/... https://twitter…

• @leojtravis10 Joe Ortiz on x

  Try as you might (deleting their accounts), but the fact is you can't really escape Facebook, as this is yet another example of that. More of a reason to break the corporation up. https://twitter.com/...

• @adamjmoussa Adam Moussa on x

  if this is a death knell for Twitter's giphy integration and the end of Woman Mug Spit Take and Drake Clapping Courtside et al I will plan the ticker tape parade for Zuckerberg myself https://twitter.com/...

• @briannekimmel Brianne Kimmel on x

  Facebook should really just change its name to Instagram. It's better. https://twitter.com/...

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  GIFs are just off-the-shelf cringe for people too lazy to make TikToks https://twitter.com/...

• @stephcd Steph Davidson on x

  The difference between giphy and napster is that metallica have lawyers

• @jonrussell Jon Russell on x

  I remember when Giphy was valued at $600M (!) and not even focused on monetisation. Always seemed like a tough jump into branded GIFs or sponsored search results: guess Facebook will ram that home now https://techcrunch.com/...

• @joshconstine @joshconstine on x

  For $400M, Facebook just bought GIPHY's surveillance into visual communication trends in every app. https://twitter.com/...

• @counternotions Kontra on x

  1997: Apple buys NeXT for about $400M 2020: Facebook buys Giphy for about $400M (I wonder which is the better value) ↓ https://twitter.com/...

• @moonalice Roger McNamee on x

  Attention, FTC, DOJ and Congress: you should stop this acquisition. Immediately. In fact, you should prohibit internet giants from making acquisitions of any kind. Monopolization of tech is bad for the economy, employment, and civil rights. https://twitter.com/...

• @gymshortsstuds GSS on x

  The evil empire grows! https://twitter.com/...

• @sivavaid Siva Vaidhyanathan on x

  Should be blocked. Won't be blocked. Because antitrust is a fantasy. https://twitter.com/...

• @joshelman Josh Elman on x

  In related news - I do like the value placed here on expression and I like to see the @GIPHY team rewarded for all the work they did on helping invent this category. Congrats https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @cycle_soosai @cycle_soosai on x

  Facebook stretegy seems to be chasing users who have run away by buying services that are built into other apps they use. Bleddy fellows. Won't leave anyone alone on this planet https://twitter.com/...

• @brosandprose Ella Dawson on x

  If Zuck ruins @GIPHY, I swear to GOD I will riot in the streets. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on x

  Giphy from Instagram from ＦＡＣＥ ＢＯＯＫ https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x

  The deal was valued around $300M with a little more for employee retention, a roughly 50% drop from Giphy's last known valuation of $600 million in 2016. @alexeheath and @KateClarkTweets with the scoop! https://www.theinformation.com/ ...

• @arctictony Tony Haile on x

  All FB $ investments in journalism should now be measured in units based on giphy's $400m acquisition. ie. “FB announced they were investing 25% of a giphy to support journalism today” https://www.axios.com/...

• @jeremysliew @jeremysliew on x

  Congratulations to @instagram for acquiring @giphy! Two cornerstones of pop culture coming together. https://about.fb.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @sarahfrier Sarah Frier on x

  Giphy will keep all its existing integrations with other apps like Twitter, which means Facebook gets the data on those API calls, which will give the company insight into what people are using beyond Facebook.

• @caseynewton Casey Newton on x

  I think the best way to see this deal is through the lens of Facebook's opportunism during the pandemic https://twitter.com/...

• @stevekovach Steve Kovach on x

  Does anyone know if Apple uses Giphy for iMessage GIFs? Unclear where Apple sources that library from.

• @alexstamos Alex Stamos on x

  Section VII: Intellectual Property Risks and Mitigations https://twitter.com/...

• @mattlynley Matthew Lynley on x

  They wanted to raise as much as $100m in early 2018 https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @jason_kint @jason_kint on x

  Giphy CEO Alex Chung: 'We're gonna make a ton of money' - October 21, 2015 @mollywood https://www.marketplace.org/ ...

• @mattlynley Matthew Lynley on x

  Facebook is in your keyboard now lol https://twitter.com/...

• @alexrkonrad Alex Konrad on x

  Giphy was valued at $600M in 2016, and there were reports it was close to a big funding round in 2018 that I don't think materialized. Its rival Tenor was gobbled up by Google that year. Any gif startups left that Twitter can buy next? https://twitter.com/...

• @taylorlorenz Taylor Lorenz on x

  Facebook bought Giphy. Giphy is going to move and work out of the IG offices in NYC. https://www.cnbc.com/...

• @kevinroose Kevin Roose on x

  I'm too lazy, someone make the Ghananian pallbearers but the casket is “competition” https://twitter.com/...

• @rustybrick Barry Schwartz on x

  $400M for a GIF site https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @tuviae Tuvia Elbaum on x

  $400m sounds crazy for an app that makes gifs? They were valued north of $600m... https://techcrunch.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @wyldkard @wyldkard on x

  Oh great, another service that will now track us. Thanks a lot, Facebook users. https://twitter.com/...

• @dannyjpalmer Danny Palmer on x

  Everyone: Facebook, please do something about all the fake news, conspiracy theories and other things having a negative impact on the world. Facebook: We're spending $400m on Giphy. https://twitter.com/...

• @tonyromm Tony Romm on x

  okay i can officially now say that my struggle to describe a gif in the lede of the post officially qualifies me as an Old

• @bdsams Brad Sams on x

  Introducing: Giphy by Facebook Giphy for Work Giphy for Gram https://twitter.com/...

• @daithaigilbert David Gilbert on x

  Facebook this week pledged to pay thousands of its moderators who suffered PTSD a total of $52M. To give you a sense of how insignificant that amount of money is to FB, today it's paying $400M for Giphy https://www.axios.com/...

• @shaig Shai Goldman on x

  NYC based Giphy, being acquired by Facebook for $400M per @axios . That is a good deal for Facebook. Initial funding came from RRE, Lerer Hippeau, Betaworks, CAA. https://www.axios.com/...

• @backlon Dieter Bohn on x

  I guess that's one way for Facebook to finally be good at “video” 😐 https://www.axios.com/...

• @hunterwalk @hunterwalk on x

  @danprimack the lack of gifs in this post is ironic https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...

• @tomwarren Tom Warren on x

  Giphy was good while it lasted https://twitter.com/...

• @om @om on x

  Here is my basic problem with this deal. If ulook at the places Giphy is integrated, there are a lot of rivals to Facebook. Slack, for instance competes with Facebook Work. (Dis: own slack shares). Ditto for Twitter. Tumblr. Facebook has direct access to usage on those platforms …

• @bizcarson Biz Carson on x

  I like that there is just a gif of Mark Zuckerberg eating toast on the homepage of @protocol right now: http://protocol.com/ (and while you're there, you should read @issielapowsky's interview with @betaworks @Borthwick on FB's Giphy acquisition: https://www.protocol.com/...)

• @timgrieve Tim Grieve on x

  “Seven years later, Giphy isn't just a company: It's the chief purveyor of an international language for what Borthwick calls the ‘post-literate media’ era.” https://www.protocol.com/...

• @karynelevy Karyne Levy on x

  This interview with a Giphy investor on the FB deal is great, but the best part is when @issielapowsky asked him his feelings on pronouncing it Jiffy. https://www.protocol.com/...