ICQ shutting down after 27 years

Do you still remember your ICQ (I Seek You) user identification number? For context, ICQ is arguably one of the oldest instant messaging platforms developed at Israeli company Mirabilis before AOL acquired it for approximately $407 million in 1996. The platform was once again sold to VK in 2010. At the time, the platform was quite popular in Russia, an opportunity VK saw and wanted to build momentum on.


Things have been fairly quiet on the ICQ front, and now the company is finally pulling the plug on the instant messaging platform after newly three decades. According to a spot by PCMag, ICQ published a new message on its website on Friday:



"ICQ will stop working from June 26."



However, the company recommends VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace as alternatives to continue keeping touch with friends and colleagues.


ICQ was quite popular back in the day before AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, or MSN Messenger emerged with a user base of over 100 million. ICQ hasn't provided any details that contributed and led to retirement of the beloved instant messaging app.

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reaaski said:

Rest in peace a website I've never visited.

I hope it will be used as a parasite and someone will make a million off it.

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BassTrackerBoats said:

27 years and their monetization method(s) could not sustain them if they even had monetization methods.

I'd have made bank as the owner of the platform if I were in their shoes.

Still though, it is sad that an entity that was live for all that time had to close shop.

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Heiko said:

It's a messenger, not a website.

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reaaski said:

So what tricks would you do or what ways would you use to do better?

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BassTrackerBoats said:

My IM game is to drive people to websites where I generate revenue.

Most of the rest of the IM marketers should do the same as you can capture emails, sell, offer CPA offers, and for the ghetto crowd use adsense.

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reaaski said:

So their website is worthless? Or they didn't have a website?

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reaaski said:

Rest in peace a website I've never visited.

I hope it will be used as a parasite and someone will make a million off it.

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Heiko said:

Of course they have a website but ICQ is owned by VK and they would be pretty stupid if they would just let the domain expire.

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