Facebook may be forced to sell Giphy following UK regulator findings
The UK’s competition regulator has found that Facebook’s acquisition of GIF-sharing platform Giphy will harm competition within social media and digital advertising. As part of its provisional decision, the watchdog voiced concerns that Facebook could prevent rivals including TikTok and Snapchat from accessing Giphy, a service they already use. It added that Facebook could also require customers of the GIF platform to hand over more data in return for access. If its objections are confirmed as part of the ongoing review, the regulator said it could force Facebook to unwind the deal and to sell off Giphy in its entirety.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ultimately determined that the deal stands to increase Facebook’s sizeable market power. Together, its suite of apps — including Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram — account for 70 percent of social media activity and are accessed at least once a month by 80 percent of internet users, the CMA said.
Beyond social media, the watchdog suggested that the acquisition could remove a potential challenger to Facebook in the $5.5 billion display advertising market. Citing Facebook’s termination of Giphy’s paid ad partnerships following the deal, the regulator said the move had effectively stopped the company’s …read more
