Never did I think GIFs were going to what broke the dam on Facebook being an monopoly, but here we are https://t.co/NVabuNXeF7

— Ernie Smith (@ShortFormErnie) August 12, 2021

GIF monopoly! https://t.co/Drv8vyYKNq pic.twitter.com/YaKDpp1cbF

— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) August 12, 2021

lmaoooooooo you draw the line at Giphy? https://t.co/VdFx75bZA0

— st. (@seyitaylor) August 12, 2021

Facebook says the finding lacks evidence.

"This merger is in the best interest of people and businesses in the UK - and around the world - who use GIPHY and our services. We will continue to work with the CMA to address the misconception that the deal harms competition."

— Brian Fung (@b_fung) August 12, 2021

Obviously it's just a summary of provisional findings but some of it is faintly ridiculous.

This is from Giphy's own (pre-merger) internal documents – is it *possible* that they might not be the most objective judges of the unique value of GIFs in advertising? pic.twitter.com/PvChbBDCdD

— Sam Bowman (@s8mb) August 12, 2021

Only a full spin-off will do, the CMA says. https://t.co/BNDDxm9P2X pic.twitter.com/XWvKEzX7ZQ

— Brian Fung (@b_fung) August 12, 2021

This stood out to me in the CMA provisional findings to block the Facebook/Giphy merger: it describes massive services like Snapchat and Tiktok as FB's rivals, but is concerned about the loss of potential display ad competition from Giphy, which has no display ad business at all? https://t.co/A25SKEyuh9 pic.twitter.com/qzRFbrXeIP

— Sam Bowman (@s8mb) August 12, 2021

Potential competition often "proves too much".

If Facebook faces potential competition from Giphy, then it must also face potential (or actual) competition from Tiktok, Twitter, Youtube, etc, which should make the loss of Giphy's potential competition pretty trivial.

— Sam Bowman (@s8mb) August 12, 2021

Facebook said it was going to buy Giphy 15 months ago. My understanding was that Giphy was running out of money and the deal was very favorable to Facebook.

It hasn’t and now may not close cause antitrust. Amazing.

— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) August 12, 2021

Britain might require Facebook to sell GIF website Giphy after the country's competition regulator said its investigation found the deal between the two companies would hurt the display advertising market https://t.co/XpbkKoWHtN pic.twitter.com/f20o9psLMc

— Reuters Business (@ReutersBiz) August 12, 2021

Facebook may have to sell GIF-maker Giphy on UK competition concerns https://t.co/XbTUotEyu4

— Karol Cummins (@karolcummins) August 12, 2021

Facebook's takeover of Giphy raises competition concerns, UK regulator says https://t.co/7lVVlSwBZP

— CNBC (@CNBC) August 12, 2021

$FB Facebook’s takeover of Giphy raises serious competition concerns, UK regulator says https://t.co/Het4pEBzRh pic.twitter.com/bRQdaVkF1J

— North Bluff Capital (@bluff_capital) August 12, 2021

? We’ve provisionally found that Facebook’s takeover of Giphy will negatively impact competition between social media platforms and remove a potential challenger in the display advertising market.

Read more: https://t.co/qVX9cxOJg4 pic.twitter.com/UGYxtxrupe

— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) August 12, 2021

Our investigation has provisionally found that Giphy was considering expanding its advertising services to other countries, including the UK, before its takeover. This would have brought a new potential challenger to Facebook in this market.
Read more: https://t.co/XRDzZ0U6ec

— Competition & Markets Authority (@CMAgovUK) August 12, 2021

FacebookによるGIFウェブサイトのGiphy買収は独占禁止法に違反する可能性があるとイギリス当局が発表。審査結果によっては、Giphyの買収を取り消すか売却するかになるかもしれないとのこと。https://t.co/dU8FPz4glB

— 今村咲 (@saki_imamura) August 12, 2021