![]() ![]() The companies now have 5 working days to offer legally binding proposals to the CMA to address the competition concerns identified. Should the companies fail to address our concerns, we will launch a more in-depth review to ensure consumers and businesses don’t lose out. It is vital we ensure that Facebook, as a large and powerful Big Tech firm, isn’t using its strong market position to stifle competition. ![]() Many people use GIFs when they communicate online so it’s important that platforms aren’t restricted in what they can offer and people have a range of options to pick from.Īs the UK’s competition authority, it is our responsibility to make sure that markets remain competitive. This could potentially lead to reduced choice for users and further increase Facebook’s market power in relation to social media.Īndrea Gomes da Silva, Executive Director of Markets and Mergers, said: The CMA also found that the deal could harm rival social media platforms, as it could mean Giphy would stop supplying GIFs to these companies or do so on worse terms – for example, requiring rivals to provide more user data to the merged entity to access Giphy GIFs. This is particularly concerning given Facebook’s existing market power in display advertising – in July, last year, the CMA found that Facebook has a share of over 50% of the £5.5 billion display advertising market. If Giphy and Facebook remain merged, Giphy could have less incentive to expand its digital advertising, leading to a loss of potential competition in this market. The CMA has found evidence that Giphy had planned to expand its digital advertising partnerships to other countries, including the UK. In May last year, Facebook announced it had acquired Giphy.īefore the deal, Giphy competed with Facebook outside the UK in digital advertising through paid partnerships with brands, such as Pepsi and Dunkin’ Donuts. 2 for its provisional findings.Giphy is an online database and search engine that allows users to share GIFs and stickers either via Giphy’s website or app, or through online platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat. The watchdog said that it has engaged with other agencies reviewing the deal to help the CMA's investigation, and is now inviting comments from interested parties by Sept. The $9.2 billion eBay-Adevinta deal has caught its attention, and the CMA has asked the new owners of supermarket chain Asda to fix fuel competition concerns. This is not the first time the CMA has raised concerns about major deals. The representative added that the California-based company would continue to work with the CMA. As we have demonstrated, this merger is in the best interest of people and businesses in the UK - and around the world," a Facebook spokesperson said. ![]() "We disagree with the CMA's preliminary findings, which we do not believe to be supported by the evidence. However, Facebook terminated Giphy's ad partnerships following the deal, according to the regulator. The CMA found that, before the Facebook deal, Giphy was considering expanding its paid advertising services offered in the United States to other countries, including the UK. It also removes a potential challenger to Facebook," said Stuart McIntosh, chair of the independent investigation for the CMA.Īnother major provider of GIFs is Google's (GOOGL.O) Tenor. "Giphy's takeover could see Facebook withdrawing GIFs from competing platforms or requiring more user data in order to access them. The UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) began a probe into the deal in January, and in April referred the deal to an in-depth investigation. ![]() The deal was pegged at $400 million by Axios. Aug 12 (Reuters) - Britain might require Facebook (FB.O) to sell GIF website Giphy after the country's competition regulator said on Thursday its investigation found the deal between the two companies would hurt the display advertising market.įacebook, the world's largest social media company, bought Giphy, a website for making and sharing animated images, or GIFs, in May last year to integrate it with its photo-sharing app, Instagram. ![]()
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