The GIFs we send can be disguised advertising

The GIFs we send can be disguised advertising

Not a day goes by without us sending a GIF. Through WhatsApp, or Messenger, we even decorate our Facebook posts with them. If we can't find the correct answer for a certain comment, there will be GIFs to help us out. Surprise, anger, bewilderment, laughter, sadness ... Any feeling is valid to be shown through a small video clip that is played in a loop. Let's say that, clearly, GIFs are fully established in our communication today.

Advertising, almost subliminal

That is why it is a field, too sweet, so that the brands have not had an eye on it. And it is already a fact: many of the GIFs that we share every day are nothing but hidden ads. It is very likely that even you have already shared them without having a clue what they really were. As explained in Digital Trends, these are not clearly advertising GIFs, such as a brand logo. They are more subtle GIFs, whose brand is, more or less, hidden.

Take, for example, this cute GIF of pizza slices dancing under colored strobe lights.

The GIFs we send can be disguised advertising 1

Look now, if the hypnotic movement of the portions leaves you, in the logo located in the lower right part of the GIF. Yes, indeed, it belongs to a well-known fast food chain. You see the logo, you are a pizza fan, you are hungry and you share it at lunchtime. It is quite likely that some of your contacts think the same as you. And share it. Free advertising, they are called. And, we, its promoters.

Mom, where do GIFs come from?

Most of us search for GIFs through specialized engines, among which is the company 'Tenor'. Surely one day you noticed, while you were sending a GIF, that the following legend "Search in Tenor" appeared in the search bar. This is the default search engine that Google uses , on its keyboard, for you to locate all the loops and video clips you need to communicate.

Funny that Google trusts a third-party company for a job it could do itself. Why do you associate your GIF search with Tenor instead of your own search engine? Tenor is used daily more than 200 million times a day. A very juicy figure to let it go and not monetize it. 90% of people who search Tenor are usually limited to emotions and everything related to them. In Tenor we look for 'Good morning' or 'Thank you'. In Google, on the other hand, searches are not like that. We look for data, like 'How much does the new Samsung Galaxy S8 cost'. Tenor CEO David McIntosh has stated that his company has become the 'Google of emotions'.

The GIFs we send can be covert advertising 2

That is why Google relies on the 'feeling engine' so that the results are much more truthful and relevant ... and more profitable, economically speaking. Starbucks can pay Tenor so that if someone types 'Good morning' in their search engine, a GIF of the brand appears . In this way, the previously mentioned GIF of pizzas is included. Tenor closed a contract with the well-known fast food chain, so that the psychedelic GIF would appear in terms such as 'Party', 'Celebrate' or 'Love'. The result: the GIF plays more than 40 million times in less than six weeks.

It is already a fact and something that we cannot compete. Many of the GIFs we share are actually advertisements. And it is that everything has a price on the Internet. Or almost.