Social media giant Facebook said that it has bought Giphy, a popular search engine for GIFs.
The acquisition comes as Facebook faces multiple anti-trust investigations and regulators examine the company's massive market share, which includes ownership of the WhatsApp messaging platform and Instagram.
Facebook purchased Giphy for 400 million dollars, according to Axios, which first reported the deal.
Facebook did not disclose the acquisition price. In a statement, Facebook said it will integrate Giphy into its Instagram platform.
Giphy is one of the largest databases of GIFs, which are short, looping videos that are commonly used on messaging platforms and social media to express an elaborate range of emotions and jokes.
"Both our services are big supporters of the creator and artist community, and that will continue," Facebook said in a blog post.
"Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world."
Facebook said that 50 per cent of Giphy's traffic already comes through use of Facebook-owned applications, with half of that coming from Instagram alone.
# Notebook
## Update
## Note to editors - dpa photos
## Internet links - [Facebook blog post](http://dpaq.de/Iw5hU) - [Axios report](http://dpaq.de/iy5pd)
* * * * The following information is not intended for publication
## Editorial contacts - Reporting by: Eliyahu Kamisher in Los Angeles - Editing by: Miranda Lee Murray - Tel. +49 30 2852 31472,
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