• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, February 12, 2015

CP+B has announced the .GIFYS, its second annual award show celebrating the animated GIF. The agency has opened public voting today as a group of esteemed judges works toward determining the best GIFs of 2015. The entire Internet is encouraged to vote through February 22nd across 11 categories, including Cats, Sports, Film & TV, News & Politics and a new one this year, Weird.

The .GIFYS were created in 2014 by a group of creatives and developers at CP+B LA in an effort to honor GIFs as a medium, social commentary and art form. Not to mention a gigantic time waster. In the shows’ second year, CP+B has partnered with online database and search engine GIPHY.com to host the competition and has asked a panel of internet experts from Mashable, Reddit, AOL, New York Magazine, Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, famous Internet cat Lil Bub and more, to nominate the best GIFs for voting.

Of the .GIFYS, CP+B LA Senior Copywriter and .GIFYS Co-Founder Chelsea O'Brien said: “In the thick of award show season, The .GIFYS are the one award show that the entire Internet gets to vote on. Our expert panelists help nominate the best GIFS, but we believe the ultimate decision should lie in the hands of those who create GIFS: everyone.”

Winners will be announced on February 24th. Interestingly, and because if the seemingly complex nature of GIF ownership, the GIFYS do not award the creator, but rather the GIF itself .