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Ancestry.com Reviews

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Editor's Overall Rating:
Average User Rating:
(based on 22 reviews)

Category: Genealogy Sites (AKA Family Tree Websites)
Website: http://www.ancestry.com



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Ancestry Disappoints Veteran Subscribers
05 April 2014
Reviewer: Linda from Arizona

234 of 409 people found this review helpful

Search Effectiveness:
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Technical Support:
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I have been a steady subscriber of Ancestry since 2000 and off and on for a few years before that. I have cancelled my subscription which ends June 30th. The decision was based on the deletion of the "old search" and offering only the new search as their search functionality. The "new search" has been around since 2008 and they haven't gotten it right yet. I have tried it off and on over the years and reverted back to the old search. Since the old search was removed, I have given the new search a real try. While I have figured out how to work around many of its technical flaws, I no longer think it is worth the subscription price to have to do that. The other factor in actually making the decision to drop the subscription is that while veteran, experienced researchers and many with IT experience have noted the technical flaws, Ancestry comes back and says it is just a matter of getting used to it. They provide a link to the simulated old search function which is a joke as it is nothing like the old search.

I get annoyed at the amount of money Ancestry must put into their advertising. They mislead the customer by making them believe that they can instantly get a whole lot of information on their ancestors. Yes, Ancestry does have some wonderful databases but the honest truth is that many people will find next to nothing on Ancestry either because they don't have enough data to make a credible match of records; the data for their particular family line simply isn't there; or they don't understand that research of historical records can be labor intensive; and now to add to that, there are technical issues that even prevent us veterans from finding records we've found before. Some of that advertising money and the amount they put into such things as phone apps, DNA matches, etc. could be used to fix the technical issues with the search functionality and make it a good product again.

In summary, I would not recommend Ancestry.com to a friend.



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