Facebook purchases GIPHY for $400 million

(Image credit: iStock)

Facebook is inserting the "Citizen Kane clapping" GIF here.

On Friday, the tech giant announced that it is acquiring the popular GIF search engine GIPHY for $400 million, absorbing it as part of "the Instagram team," The Washington Post and Axios report. In a blog post, Facebook explained that "50 percent of GIPHY's traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone. By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct."

The Post notes that it is "unclear if the deal will require the approval of federal regulators, who are already scrutinizing Facebook's past purchases for potential antitrust concerns." On the user end, anyway, The Verge reports things aren't expected to change — for now. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.