A popular website Omegle, a free online chat service that people use to chat, talk and interact with strangers from all over the world, has shut down after 14 years. Leif K-Brooks, the website’s owner- said he decided because the “stress and expense of operating Omegle and fighting its misuse – are simply too much.”

"There can be no honest accounting of Omegle without acknowledging that some people misused it, including to commit unspeakably heinous crimes," he said.

Founder Leif Brooks said, "As much as I wish circumstances were different, the stress and expense of this fight - coupled with the existing stress and expense of operating Omegle and fighting its misuse - are simply too much.

"Frankly, I don't want to have a heart attack in my 30s." The announcement of Omegle's closure featured an image depicting the platform's logo on a gravestone.

Omegle provided a platform for users to engage in random online interactions without the need to disclose any personal details. Omegle was founded in 2009, the online chat service randomly paired users in one-on-one chat sessions where they would chat anonymously using the names "You" and "Stranger", which might be one of the reasons why the service gained massive popularity.

The Omegle App usage increased during the pandemic, as many people were stuck in homes and couldn’t talk or meet with others.

Where are most Omegle users from?

The website had around 73 million visitors a month. According to the most recent traffic summary, Omegle had 51.7 million unique visitors in May 2022 with about 29.89% users from the US, 9.95% from India, 5.12% from the Philippines, 4.52% from the United Kingdom, and 3.48% from Germany.

Earlier this year, the BBC found that Omegle had been cited in numerous cases involving paedophiles in various countries, including the UK, the US, and Australia.