One day, we will communicate only in animated GIFs. The shift is well underway and, quite frankly, we’re perfectly ok with that.
There’s already a large number of services helping us perfect the art of finding the perfect GIF for the situation and now Google is making it a little easier. Until now working with GIFs in Google has been a pain point because the copy and paste rules of general life don’t always apply.
Now, the company has added a Share GIF button to they vast trove of animated delights within Google Images. The new tool will give GIF-happy users the opportunity to dump their find directly into WhatsApp, Android Messages, Gmail and Hangouts. All you need to do is hit that new share button.
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In a post on The Keyword blog, Google explains: “GIFs appear in this section based on how likely they are to be shared, so that you can find a GIF that captures exactly what you want to say. This feature will be available starting today on the Google app for iOS and Android, as well as Chrome on Android. Over time, we’ll bring directly shareable GIFs to more surfaces and mobile browsers, so it’s as easy as possible to share your personality with a cartoon, animal, or something else entirely.”
Google says the addition comes as web users go GIF-crazy. It says, over the past five years, searches for GIFs on Google Images has almost tripled. The new shareable functionality builds on the company’s acquisition of Tenor in 2018. It says it has worked with streaming services, movie studios and YouTube creators to source GIFs that respect copyright owners.
Adding this feature to Google Images is a great start, but Google already has a powerful GIF sharing tool within its Gboard keyboard for Android and iOS. Not only does this provide fast access to the archive, it also allows sharing to a wider range of apps.
