New Delhi: Britain may need Facebook Sell GIF Website Giphy The country’s competition regulator said on Thursday that its investigation found the deal between the two companies would hurt the display advertising market.
Facebook, the world’s largest social media company, in May last year bought Giphy to integrate with its photo-sharing app, Instagram, a website for creating and sharing animated images or GIFs. The deal was pegged by Axios at $400 million.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the deal in January, and in April referred the deal for a thorough investigation.
Stuart Mackintosh, president of independent investigations for the CMA, said, “The acquisition of Giphy could allow Facebook to withdraw GIFs from competing platforms or require more user data to access them. It also removes a potential challenger to Facebook.” gives.”
Another major provider of GIFs is Google’s Tenor.
The CMA found that, prior to the Facebook deal, Giphy was considering expanding its paid advertising services offered in the United States to other countries, including the UK. However, according to the regulator, Facebook terminated Giphy’s advertising partnership following the deal.
A Facebook spokesperson said, “We disagree with the CMA’s preliminary findings, which we do not believe to be supported by evidence. As we have shown, this merger is in the best interest of people and businesses in the UK and around the world.” Said.
The representative said the California-based company will continue to work with CMA. Giphy declined to comment.
This is not the first time that the CMA has raised concerns about large deals. The $9.2 billion eBay-Adevinta deal has drawn its attention, and the CMA has asked the new owners of supermarket chain Asda to address concerns about fuel competition.
The watchdog said it has worked with other agencies reviewing the deal to help with the CMA’s investigation, and is now inviting comments from interested parties for its tentative findings until Sept.
Facebook, the world’s largest social media company, in May last year bought Giphy to integrate with its photo-sharing app, Instagram, a website for creating and sharing animated images or GIFs. The deal was pegged by Axios at $400 million.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into the deal in January, and in April referred the deal for a thorough investigation.
Stuart Mackintosh, president of independent investigations for the CMA, said, “The acquisition of Giphy could allow Facebook to withdraw GIFs from competing platforms or require more user data to access them. It also removes a potential challenger to Facebook.” gives.”
Another major provider of GIFs is Google’s Tenor.
The CMA found that, prior to the Facebook deal, Giphy was considering expanding its paid advertising services offered in the United States to other countries, including the UK. However, according to the regulator, Facebook terminated Giphy’s advertising partnership following the deal.
A Facebook spokesperson said, “We disagree with the CMA’s preliminary findings, which we do not believe to be supported by evidence. As we have shown, this merger is in the best interest of people and businesses in the UK and around the world.” Said.
The representative said the California-based company will continue to work with CMA. Giphy declined to comment.
This is not the first time that the CMA has raised concerns about large deals. The $9.2 billion eBay-Adevinta deal has drawn its attention, and the CMA has asked the new owners of supermarket chain Asda to address concerns about fuel competition.
The watchdog said it has worked with other agencies reviewing the deal to help with the CMA’s investigation, and is now inviting comments from interested parties for its tentative findings until Sept.
.