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Instagram Brings Back GIF Stickers to Stories After Brief Vanishing Act, Adds Support for Full Screen Ads

Instagram Brings Back GIF Stickers to Stories After Brief Vanishing Act, Adds Support for Full Screen Ads

By Ankit Chawla | Updated: 30 March 2018 13:28 IST

Highlights

GIF stickers were removed earlier this month
Giphy claims to have resolved the issue
Instagram offers automatic optimisation of full screen ads

Instagram has released two new consumer-facing updates. According to the updates, GIF stickers will make a comeback on Instagram Stories after having first launched on the platform back in January this year. Apart from that, Instagram is also rolling out full screen support for all short-length ads in Instagram Stories.

GIF stickers, powered by Giphy were removed earlier this month after an incident involving the posting of a "deeply offensive sticker" apparently prompted the suspension of Giphy's integration with Instagram Stories. "The content was immediately removed and after investigation a bug was found in our content moderation filters affecting stickers. This bug was immediately fixed and all stickers were re-moderated," said Giphy in its statement on the incident. The company claims to have re-moderated its entire sticker library four times, apart from adding another level of moderation.

Instagram Stories Get GIF Stickers With Access to Giphy Database

Responding to the same incident, Instagram has, starting March 30, resumed the use of Giphy's stickers on its Snapchat-inspired Instagram Stories platform. "We've been in close contact with GIPHY throughout this process and we're confident that they have put measures in place to ensure that Instagram users have a good experience," said Instagram.

Separately, Instagram has made posting optimised ads a tad bit easier for advertisers. When a business uploads a single photo or video (less than 15 seconds) compliant with aspect ratios in the Instagram feed, the service will automatically adapt it for posting on Instagram Stories giving the advertiser wide coverage across the platform.

According to Instagram, advertisers will benefit in three ways with the latest update. Firstly, their proprietary pixel matching technology will help select a background gradient to turn the ad into full screen. Secondly, text from the ad unit will be added in Instagram Stories below the photo/ video, in case the unit is square or in landscape. And, lastly, swipe up capabilities will allow for a better call-to-action for the advertisers.

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