Facebook acquires Giphy for $400 million, promises deeper Instagram integration

Facebook confirmed Friday that it is acquiring popular GIF website Giphy to the tune of $400 million.

News of the acquisition was first reported by Axios on Friday. Facebook Vice President of Product Vishal Shah eventually confirmed the rumor in a blog post welcoming Giphy to the company's Instagram team.

"A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY. In fact, 50% of GIPHY's traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone," Shah wrote.

Giphy is one of the most popular GIF websites on the internet, allowing users to create, share and customize GIFs across a broad range of platforms, including Apple's iMessage. As part of the acquisition, Facebook says that Giphy's tools will be integrated into Instagram's Stories and direct messages, as well as the company's other apps, to "make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world."

The Menlo Park company added that developers and API partners will continue to be able to access Giphy's development frameworks. No changes are currently planned for how users upload or share GIFs.