ICQ was a classic first mover that had explosive growth and continued to succeed in a relative way, but not relative to the overall market. AIM, Yahoo! and MSN

ICQ was a classic first mover that had explosive growth and continued to succeed in a relative way, but not relative to the overall market. AIM, Yahoo! and MSN messenger platforms knocked it off that pedestal, and the company seemed more interested in sabotaging its platform to squeeze ad revenue than making it more relevant or meaningful to their userbase.