Hulu’s GIF Search Engine Offers TV Fans Tumblr-Based Experience
The online streaming service has released a GIF search engine to engage with TV fans through a Tumblr-based platform.
Hulu’s new GIF search engine will provide TV fans with a richer user experience on the Web.
The new project, called “The Perfect GIF,” is powered by Tumblr. Capitalizing on its licensed and original content, Hulu has branded 1,400 GIFs with a TV show’s name and network, accompanied by the hashtag #hulu. Because such content is only accessible through Hulu, other GIF sites like Giphy and Imgur are not able to offer these kinds of TV-related images.
Users can then share the GIFs on Tumblr, Twitter, and Pinterest, or via email.
In order to optimize the search experience, Hulu has also categorized the slew of GIFs into eight categories: “Shows,” “Actions,” “Reactions,” “LOL,” “Current TV,” “OMG,” “Fail,” and “Swag,” and enables users to search by a hashtag or by the name of the show.
However, some GIFs are not that easily searchable. For example, The Mindy Project appears under the “OMG” category. But when typing the hashtag #OMG in the GIF search engine, The Mindy Project image doesn’t show up.
In spite of these hiccups, a source familiar with the project says the GIF generator has been well received by TV fans so far, and is likely to become an evergreen program by Hulu.
The GIF search engine could potentially be used as a promotional channel for Hulu and its content partners, but the company hasn’t yet revealed plans to produce sponsored GIFs for other brands to gain extra ad revenue.
Image via Shutterstock.