Google Chat GIFs you something more to talk about with its latest update

Now that we’re all over the hump with morning the loss of Google Hangouts, the tech giant is beginning to look at ways it can make its cold, corporate replacement, Google Chat, feel a little bit cozier for consumers. Today, it’s announced that it is rolling out Tenor integration, which will allow you to search for and send cat GIFs to your boss.

For now, this will only be available on the web app version of the software, and will likely come to the mobile app down the road. On top of that, Google is introducing some administrative controls for how an organization’s users can and can not utilize GIFs from day to day.

Chat will lay out Tenor GIFs in several easy-to-navigate categories which include ‘Trending’ images, and more. In the example above, you can see several popular hashtags like ‘Thank you’, ‘Congrats’, ‘Awesome’, and ‘Excited’, with the option to continue panning to the right with an arrow. Similarly, searching for anything will populate the GIF search query with new items. What I’m describing is Google Chat getting with the times and offering something you’re all very familiar with.

To get started, just find the ‘GIF’ button on the input box and click it. The icon is aligned with all of your other tools like Drive file picking, image attachment, emoji, and more. I’m actually proud to see Google use a ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway?’ GIF in their example below – that show is hilarious!

If you’re an Admin, you can enable or disable Tenor GIF integration from your console by going to Apps > Google Workspace > Settings for Google Chat > GIFs. At launch, it will be enabled by default for everyone, so please be aware of your settings before it rolls out officially. In fact, Google is giving you one week to configure everything to your liking prior to its official launch. Admins can dig through and adjust things right this moment.

Rapid Release and Scheduled Release domains alike will be able to start sending GIFs over the next two weeks. Some may already see the option as of yesterday! This goes for all Workspace tiers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business users. Have fun!