*By Conor White*
Giphy, the internet's largest search engine for gifs, is turning its attention to advertising ー and it has a simple strategy.
"We need to make ads that don't suck," said Adam Leibsohn, the company's COO. "We always say, you should entertain, not advertise."
Giphy has worked on six- and seven-figure deals with major brands like [Absolut Vodka](https://giphy.com/absolutvodka) and [Dunkin' Donuts](https://giphy.com/dunkindonuts), as well as a campaign for the film ["Sorry to Bother You"](https://giphy.com/sorry2botheryou). Leibsohn said Monday in an interview on Cheddar the advertising angle is a natural approach for Giphy.
"Paid search is our revenue model," he said. "So, you can basically place content in relevant searches, so that your content comes back as the first result, and then people use it a lot more."
With 300 million daily active users who serve up 5 billion gifs, Leibsohn said, the platform is looking to turn a profit for the first time in its five-year history.
"People really love to use \[gifs\], in messaging, in communication, in social," Leibsohn said. "What we've been starting to do is work with brands to help them get involved in those conversations."
Though the company isn't openly discussing its revenue goals, Leibsohn said he expects significant growth, thanks to the new partnerships ー and he doesn't expect the public to get sick of the medium any time soon.
"It's not really fatigue because every day a different piece of culture, a different piece of content is what's driving the conversation, so as long as culture remains moving, gifs remain popular."
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjE5OTQ=).
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Billionaire Elon Musk made waves after revealing he's making an attempt at a hostile takeover of the social media platform Twitter. The Tesla CEO is offering $43 billion to buy the social media platform outright with "freedom of speech" allegedly at the forefront of his agenda. Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, is taking the tech entrepreneur seriously. "I think through many twists and turns over the coming months, he ultimately ends up owning Twitter because Twitter's board, their back is going to be against the wall," he said.
Ann Mukherjee, the chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, joined Cheddar News to talk about Absolut Vodka’s decade-long partnership with the music festival Coachella. Perno Ricard's vodka brand has built the virtual world Absolutland in the Decentraland metaverse for users to explore. "We actually have a vending machine where you can actually purchase the cocktails that will be delivered right to your home," she said. The brand will also be featuring festival headliner Swedish House Mafia.
