Shutterstock, a platform that provides licensed images, videos, and music, has announced its acquisition of GIPHY. GIPHY is a GIF-sharing platform used in social networks and messaging applications like Instagram and WhatsApp. As reported by Metis Media from Neowin, Shutterstock will purchase GIPHY for $53 million or approximately Rp 789 million. The American company stated that it does not expect significant revenue from GIPHY this year but aims to increase revenue in 2024.
"This is an exciting next step in Shutterstock's journey as an end-to-end creative platform. Through the acquisition of GIPHY, we expand our audience touchpoints beyond professional marketing and advertising use cases and extend into casual conversations," said Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessy. "GIPHY enables everyday users to express themselves easily through GIFs and sticker content, allowing them to be part of these casual conversations," he added.
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| Source: tech.hindustantimes.com |
In this acquisition, Shutterstock also plans to leverage its unique capabilities in content and metadata monetization, generative AI, studio production, and creative automation to enable the commercialization of the GIF library when launched to customers. According to Shutterstock, the acquisition of GIPHY will strengthen its generative AI and metadata strategy. By harnessing generative AI, Shutterstock can significantly increase the number of images accessible to customers to enhance their content.
On the other hand, Meta has not responded yet. However, looking back, this acquisition has caused significant losses for Meta. In 2020, Meta purchased GIPHY for $400 million or approximately Rp 5.9 trillion. However, one year after Meta's acquisition, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) of the UK forced Meta to sell GIPHY because GIPHY had just started advertising, and Meta was deemed trying to hinder competition in its own advertising business.
Shutterstock has not set a comprehensive advertising plan regarding GIPHY yet, but it is stated in the announcement that the acquisition will leverage native advertising for brands through mobile and communication tools.