Meta forced to sell Giphy, takes 87% loss in Shutterstock deal

Meta's Giphy days have come to an end, with the stock photo platform Shutterstock today announcing plans to buy the GIF library for a mere fraction of what the company formerly known as Facebook paid for it.  Shutterstock announced its $53 million (£42.6m) acquisition - far less than the $400 million (£322m) Meta paid for it …

[spireite]

Just shows how much they overpaid.

I'm not even convinced it's worth the Shutterstock figure.

[General Purpose]

What's the betting that if Meta had kept Giphy, Zuckerberg et al would have insisted on that $400m value still showing up in Meta's balance sheet as goodwill, unimpaired?

[Insert sadsack pun here]

I am very stupid

Can someone explain how Giphy makes money? Who is paying it and for what? As an end user, I don't pay. Is this some kind of ad tracking madness?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I am very stupid

https://productmint.com/giphy-business-model-how-does-giphy-make-money/

GIPHY makes money by helping to create as well as promote sponsored GIFs. The content is then either promoted on its own platform or on other analog and digital channels.

The revenue that GIPHY derives from sponsorships is likely being paid on a per-campaign basis. For instance, a brand like the NFL may pay GIPHY something in the ballpark of $1 million (illustrative figure) to first create custom GIFs and then have them promoted across multiple platforms.

The brands themselves benefit from additional exposure. Content on the platform, especially in combination with its various third-party integrations, is often seen by millions of people.

Also see Giphy own FAQs to get some idea: https://support.giphy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360019977992-Apply-For-A-Brand-Channel

[Jamie Jones]

Who owns them?

How many of those Gifs do they own the copyright for?

[anothercynic]

No big loss to Meta. They'll write that loss off against tax and thumb their nose at the UK CMA.

[42656e4d203239]

or, if Zuckmeister is really keen to own Giphy, he will just buy Shitterstock!

[Charlie Clark]

Goodwill is always a pain for shareholders. While Facebook, mainly Instagram, continues to generate cash, almost all of its purchases have turned out to be duds.