ICQ

For other uses, see ICQ (disambiguation).

ICQ
Original author(s)Mirabilis
Developer(s)
Initial releaseNovember 15, 1996; 27 years ago (1996-11-15)
Final release
10.0.46867 (May 27, 2022)
Repository
Written in
Platform
Available in
  • Russian
  • English
  • Portuguese
  • Ukrainian
  • German
  • Czech
  • French
  • Chinese
  • Turkish
  • Spanish
  • Arabic
  • Vietnamese
TypeInstant messaging
LicenseProprietary
Websiteicq.com

ICQ was a cross-platform instant messaging (IM) and VoIP client. The name ICQ derives from the English phrase "I Seek You".[1] Originally developed by the Israeli company Mirabilis in 1996, the client was bought by AOL in 1998, and then by Mail.Ru Group (now VK) in 2010.[2]

The ICQ client application and service were initially released in November 1996, freely available to download. The business did not have traditional marketing and relied mostly on word-of-mouth advertising instead, with customers telling their friends about it, who then informed their friends, and so on.[3] ICQ was among the first stand-alone instant messenger (IM) applications—while real-time chat was not in itself new (Internet Relay Chat [IRC] being the most common platform at the time), the concept of a fully centralized service with individual user accounts focused on one-on-one conversations set the blueprint for later instant messaging services like AIM,[4] and its influence is seen in modern social media applications. ICQ became the first widely adopted IM platform.[5]

At its peak around 2001, ICQ had more than 100 million accounts registered.[1] At the time of the Mail.Ru acquisition in 2010, there were around 42 million daily users.[6] In 2022, ICQ had about 11 million monthly users.[7]

The service was shut down on June 26, 2024, following an announcement on the website of ICQ in May 2024 that the service would be discontinued.[8]

  1. ^ a b ICQ Surpasses 100 Million Registered Users Archived 2019-05-10 at the Wayback Machine, Time Warner Press Release – May 09, 2001 (accessed 2015-05-12).
  2. ^ "News". www.businesswire.com (Press release).
  3. ^ "What Is ICQ? Myths, Scams & More (with pictures)". Easy Tech Junkie. 2023-06-19. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  4. ^ "What Ever Happened to ICQ?". TechSpot. 23 February 2022.
  5. ^ "From AIM to Slack: Tracing the History of Chat Apps". Medium. June 9, 2017.
  6. ^ Khrennikov, Ilya (29 July 2014), "ICQ Messenger Is Growing for the First Time in Years", Bloomberg Business
  7. ^ "What Ever Happened to ICQ?". TechSpot. 23 February 2022.
  8. ^ Kan, Michael (May 24, 2024). "ICQ, One of the Oldest Instant Messengers, Is Shutting Down". pcmag.com.