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With 200 Million Daily Users, Giphy Will Soon Test Sponsored GIFs (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the it's-about-time dept.

Giphy, the four-year-old search engine for GIFs with 200 million daily active users, will soon start testing sponsored GIFs within messaging experiences. "This means that users who search for GIFs may be served a sponsored GIF within the messaging tab," reports TechCrunch. From the report: There are some obvious use-cases here: A search for "Monday" or "morning" might turn up a Starbucks GIF. But there is also an opportunity for brands, especially movies and TV shows (which makes up a huge portion of Giphy's content), to work their existing content into people's messages. Structurally, this isn't too different from what Google does with search terms. If you search for "Walmart," you'll more than likely see a sponsored listing for both Walmart and Target. With Giphy, however, searches are rarely for specific brands but rather based around certain actions, reactions or emotions. With the forthcoming sponsored messaging product, a search for "Wooo" might turn up a GIF of someone pouring Jose Cuervo shots. A search for "cheers" might show folks clinking two Budweiser beer bottles together.

21 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. A search for "slashdot editor" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Turned up a gif of an epileptic incontinent chimpanzee.

  2. Ever upward, Internet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Goodbye cat gifs...

    Hello cat food gifs.

  3. huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Never heard of "Starbucks" thank goodness for advertising!

    1. Re:huh by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      It looks like a "coffee" chain.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
  4. Alcohol and coffee by TimothyHollins · · Score: 1

    I get the distinct feeling the author was thirsty when writing this...

  5. I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    > A search for "cheers" might show folks clinking two Budweiser beer bottles together.

    So if I were to search for renting beer, I'd get the same gif?

    1. Re:I get it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I suggest doing an image search for "lemon party" instead. It more accurately portrays these "messaging experiences." -PCP

  6. This is gonna die Real Soon Now by Snotnose · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If I hover over an animated GIF and see an ad, guess what? I'm gone. Doesn't matter if it's a 1 second ad, I've got good reflexes.

    Possibly smart idea paired with no clue on how people consume your content.

    1. Re:This is gonna die Real Soon Now by burtosis · · Score: 2

      If an ad gets past my script/ad blocker... guess what? I don't ever buy whatever shitstain was advertised.

      If only normal people acted this way the internet would be a much better place.

    2. Re:This is gonna die Real Soon Now by Ashylarry · · Score: 1

      I think the idea isn't that it's an explicit ad, but rather product placement in the top result gifs

  7. Just another reason by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    Just another reason to hate giphy.

    Not that I needed another reason.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  8. Not sure how effective this will be... by ToTheStars · · Score: 1

    How many people here actually search for gifs on Giphy (or any other gif-hosting site)? Mostly I share and find links to Giphy from other sites.

  9. Welp. Bout that time then! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    127.0.0.1 giphy.com

    See ya never again.

  10. Re:Yay, more buzzword bingo! by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

    It's microstock for animated GIFs, apparently. Mmmm-kay.

  11. Re:Yay, more buzzword bingo! by Desler · · Score: 1

    It's the lingo you get when you let UX designers go crazy.

  12. Re:Yay, more buzzword bingo! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    I think I'll open a stock website for single pixels. I know in advance that I'll only need 16777216 pixels for the whole catalog.

    The hard part will be the watermarking.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  13. Re:Who would... apk by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    AVI in 2017, are you serious?!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  14. I hope they die by philmarcracken · · Score: 1

    As does the practice of calling motion compressed video files gifs. People still search for 'how to make gifs' instead of 'how to make webms'.

  15. Re:Yay, more buzzword bingo! by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

    I'd guess its marketing, not UX designers. UX designers are the ones who make our software's interface pretty and less usable.

    --
    Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
  16. Re:Yay, more buzzword bingo! by infolation · · Score: 2
    For example the soon-to-be-announced 'jquery' experience, in which the CDN hosting your scripts will start inserting 'brand experience' messages into your code. eg:

    Man, I really love your use of that StarbucksEaseOutBounce

  17. Bottom line by gsslay · · Score: 1

    When you search for something it'll lead with what they're being paid to show you, rather than what is the most accurate/popular/relevant thing to show you.

    We shall see if people will accept that. I'm thinking they won't.

    Google get away with this because they're only showing text and it's mostly clear what's the advert and what's the results.