Meta has sold Giphy to Shutterstock for A$80 million, despite shelling out $A600 million to buy the gif search engine.

The sale was forced by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, who ordered the sale in November 2021.

Giphy is responsible for the majority of animated gifs posted across social networks, and boasts more than 1.3 billion search queries each day. Despite Meta declaring it would not restrict Giphy to its own platforms, the CMA still found the acquisition would harm competition in social media and advertising.

Last September, Meta contested the sale, arguing that gifs “have fallen out of fashion as a content form, with younger users in particular describing gifs as ‘for boomers’ and ‘cringe'”.

The argument didn’t wash, and CMA ordered the sale.

Shutterstock is the real winner, snapping up the site for a bargain basement price.

“Giphy enables everyday users to express themselves in memorable ways with gif and sticker content, while also enabling brands to be a part of these casual conversations,” Shutterstock CEO Paul Hennessey said.