ICQ
In 1996, four Israeli developers tinkered with a messaging system that would change how people communicate online. Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser, Amnon Amir, and Arik Vardi, along with Yossi Vardi, the latter’s father, weren’t trying to create such a tool. Their initial project simply aimed to make checking messages on beepers more convenient. ICQ was born almost by chance, as an auxiliary tool to facilitate their own collaborative work.
At that time, staying permanently connected was a luxury. Modems tied up the phone line, and maintaining an online presence on IRC for chatting wasn’t always feasible. The team faced communication difficulties when working remotely. Hence the idea of ICQ, whose name says it all: I Seek You. The software’s primary function was to enable users to find each other online.
Two months were enough to develop the program. Each user received a unique identification number, the UIN, comparable to a phone number. Low numbers indicated early registration, creating a kind of social prestige among early adopters. You could see who was connected, exchange messages in real time, and search for other users through an integrated directory.
The software spread on its own, without a marketing campaign. Online gaming communities were the first to be won over. Players of MUDs, Meridian 59, or Diablo on Battle.net massively adopted ICQ to coordinate their games and stay in touch between sessions. This spontaneous adoption foreshadowed the role Discord would play much later in the gaming universe.
Success attracted America Online, which acquired Mirabilis in June 1998 for $407 million. Under AOL, ICQ continued its expansion while maintaining its identity and its Tel Aviv-based team. By 2001, the service had 100 million registered users, mostly young people between 13 and 29 who spent five hours a day connected.
Versions followed one another with their share of new features. ICQ integrated encryption starting with version 99b, while earlier versions lacked it. Voice calls followed, then video conferencing, file transfer, messages to mobile phones, and ICQphone for calling landlines. In 2013, ICQ became the first service to offer end-to-end encrypted video calls with the ZRTP protocol.
Social networks and mobile messaging reshuffled the deck. In 2010, AOL sold ICQ to Russian group Mail.ru for $188 million. The service was popular in Eastern Europe and Russia, with 42 million daily users. In 2021, Hong Kong experienced renewed interest in ICQ: downloads increased 35-fold in one week after controversies over WhatsApp’s privacy practices.
ICQ adapted to the mobile era with applications for Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS. Artificial intelligence made its appearance to suggest quick replies and transcribe voice messages. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the service deployed video conferencing features for up to 30 participants, meeting remote work needs.
These efforts weren’t enough. Against WhatsApp, Messenger, or Telegram, ICQ didn’t reclaim its position. In May 2024, VK announced a definitive shutdown for June 26, inviting users to migrate to VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace. A pioneer disappeared.
ICQ laid the foundations for modern instant messaging: presence statuses, real-time messages, contact lists, user search. The service demonstrated the importance of asynchronous and personal communication on the Internet, before the advent of social networks and their messaging features. Its influence persists in the features of our current applications.
Through its innovative character, ICQ transformed the Internet into a space for personal and immediate communication. Romantic encounters, discussions between players, professional conversations, family exchanges: for nearly three decades, the service wove a web of human relationships throughout the digital world.