The Israeli digital media scene has been alive and kicking since the mid 1990s, when local companies rose to online dominance in various sectors and set the foundations for the modern-day Internet experience. One of most renowned ventures that gained tremendous traction was the Instant messaging (IM) client, ICQ, by Mirabilis. Released in late 1996, ICQ quickly became one of the most popular IM clients in the world, accruing millions of users. Two years after the initial release of the client, Mirabilis was taken over by AOL for $407 million. In 2010, AOL sold ICQ to Russian investment group DST. In the local online advertising arena, many senior executives and developers in today's promising digital advertising start-ups were involved with Hotbar, a company that developed toolbars and email tools. In 2006, the company merged with 180Solutions.