Instagram taps Giphy to let you send GIFs to friends in private messages

Instagram will now allow you to search for animated GIFs through a tie-up with Giphy.

The new integration will enable Instagram users to search for GIFs from Giphy’s extensive library and share with friends in private messages through Instagram Direct.

It’s worth noting here that it was already possible to share GIFs to Instagram from the Giphy app, and Instagram worked with Giphy earlier this year for a similar initiative that focused on sharing little GIF stickers that can be overlaid onto photos and videos. But moving forward, you’ll now see a little GIF button in the Instagram Direct message compose box, which you tap and then search using keywords, or you can scroll through what’s trending.

The GIFs will also include attribution for the creators, meaning you can dig down and see more GIFs from a specific creator.

The simple GIF thrives more than three decades after the file format was first introduced, and much of this has been due to the rise of mobile messaging and ubiquitous computing. Why bother expressing an emotion in words, when you can do so via a little looping animated photo?

Giphy has raised north of $150 million in funding since its inception in 2013, while earlier this year Google snapped up GIF search platform Tenor, which had raised more than $30 million. GIFs, it’s fair to say, are big business.

GIFs are available in Instagram Direct on iOS and Android starting from today.