Shutterstock to acquire GIPHY from Meta to expand content offerings and AI capabilities

Shutterstock, a provider of stock photos, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GIPHY, Inc. from Meta Platforms in a deal worth $53 million.

GIPHY is renowned as the world’s largest collection of GIFs and stickers, serving as a source of casual conversational content.

With a massive library of GIFs and stickers, GIPHY garners over 1.3 billion daily search queries and generates more than 15 billion daily media impressions. Its extensive reach extends through 14,000 API/SDK integrations, its owned-and-operated website, and mobile app.

In October 2022, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) mandated Meta to divest GIPHY to preserve choice and innovation in the UK social media and display advertising landscape.

GIPHY’s content plays a pivotal role in text and message-based conversations across various platforms, including Meta, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and numerous mobile devices.

The content library benefits from contributions by individual artists and collaborations with verified media partners such as NBC, Netflix, Disney, MLB, NFL, and NBA, ensuring a continuous supply of culturally relevant content for everyday conversations and social media sharing.

Shutterstock to acquire GIPHY from Meta Platforms for $53m to expand content offerings and AI capabilities. Image courtesy of Shutterstock, Inc.

This acquisition enhances Shutterstock’s generative AI and metadata strategy, including global-scale mobile generative AI. It enables Shutterstock to tap into the expanding native advertising market, facilitating meaningful customer interactions through mobile phones and communication tools.

By incorporating GIPHY’s extensive collection of GIFs and stickers, Shutterstock expands its content library for more casual conversations, capitalizing on the overwhelmingly positive sentiment (over 75%) consumers associate with GIFs.

The integration of Shutterstock Studios and GIPHY Studios empowers the delivery of world-class custom content solutions for brands and advertisers. Additionally, the acquisition provides access to GIPHY’s vast user base of 1.7 billion daily users generating 1.3 billion search queries.

Shutterstock’s API ecosystem also expands with the inclusion of GIPHY’s extensive network of over 14,000 API/SDK partners.

Paul Hennessy — Shutterstock CEO said: “Shutterstock is in the business of helping people and brands tell their stories. Through the GIPHY acquisition, we are extending our audience touch points beyond primarily professional marketing and advertising use cases and expanding into casual conversations.

“GIPHY enables everyday users to express themselves in memorable ways with GIF and sticker content while also enabling brands to be a part of these casual conversations. We plan to leverage Shutterstock’s unique capabilities in content and metadata monetization, generative AI, studio production and creative automation to enable the commercialization of our GIF library as we roll this offering out to customers.”

The transaction is expected to close in June 2023, subject to customary closing conditions.