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Closest competitor does a lot of heavy lifting in this situation. Ancestry is the overwhelming leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. L

by bruceb 2y ago

Closest competitor does a lot of heavy lifting in this situation. Ancestry is the overwhelming leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Look at https://www.ancestry.com/ https://www.ancestry.com/ and https://www.23andme.com/ https://www.23andme.com/ 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. Their pitch is health. But that pitch is murky with no good hook to keep you hooked for a monthly subscription. So after they get the initial $99 from the customer, most of the value customer is going to get is already served up in the first report. Maybe their big database will turn into making cancer drugs but maybe it wont.

yellowapple 2y ago
> 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. The routine emails I get about them allegedly finding new DNA relatives suggest otherwise. The DNA relatives feature is also still pretty prominent in their UI (at least on desktop browsers; haven't looked at the app yet). That said, it certainly doesn't offer much beyond "these are your relatives; send 'em some messages or something lol". Ancestry probably has a lot more features on that front, which is unsurprising since that's the sort of thing Ancestry was doing long before they even offered DNA sequencing kits like 23andMe does. I don't know if I'd characterize that as 23andMe "giving up", though; more that it's good enough for a product that never intended to enter the genealogy software market in the first place.
- codedokode 2y ago
  I wonder, do the "relatives" know and agree that their information is sent to other person?
  - sitharus 2y ago
    …yes that’s how it works? You opt in and choose what you share. They’re quite explicit about it.
    - nnutter 2y ago
      I would say it's a little more murky than that. My anecdotal experience is in the context of Ancestry.com. Effectively, I might not consent to having my information shared but if my uncle, nephew, etc. does it is effectively still being shared.
    - michaelcampbell 2y ago
      > You opt in and choose what you share Until the company gets breached and your choices mean squat. Thanks, no.
  - PawgerZ 2y ago
    Yes. You must opt in. When you opt in, you can elect to show your full name, or just initals (may be other options but I opted in long ago).
- LgWoodenBadger 2y ago
  The new-DNA-relatives feature is one of the few "growth" things they can continue to bother you with, outside of newly-discovered genome-based indicators for diseases. I get/got spammed by them about new relatives on the order of "6th cousin who shares 0.3% of your DNA." Thanks, but who cares...
  - busseio 2y ago
    "Give the kits as gifts!" and you can learn about your closer relatives /s-ish
- Slava_Propanei 2y ago
  [dead]
Simon_ORourke 2y ago
> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the spam folder with you".
- tylergetsay 2y ago
  I think a more common use case might be finding siblings if your adopted, or trying to reengage with your roots if you were say a member of an indian tribe or native hawaiian. I have a family member who is retired and has taken up geneology as a hobby, she has connected our family history really far back. Not my cup of tea personally but I can see the appeal, its like a treasure hunt. She has traveled to go to old libraries and dig up newspaper archives.
  - creshal 2y ago
    Another common use case is "I wonder where all my family went after $War"; some families are still trying to figure out where their parents' families ended up at after WW2, or if they survived at all.
- _DeadFred_ 2y ago
  I've found it extremely interesting. It's brought me greater insight into my grandfather I knew nothing about, and even the (very few) family traditions/recipes that have come down to me. It's made the world feel smaller and more connected, seeing actual relatives in all of these far off places, in the kind of way I always HOPED the internet would bring interconnectedness. I think it's inherently human to want to understand who we are and where come from. Especially for someone like me in the USA. How did my people end up here?
- jkhdigital 2y ago
  I don’t think anyone is actually trying to connect with distant cousins for social interaction; rather the shared DNA segments provide hard evidence to confirm distant ancestors. I got into genealogy a couple years ago after thumbing through some old family documents and I’ve been able to confirm 6th cousins (traced via our shared ancestors) using 23andMe data. Now there are probably some who think genealogy is a silly pastime and maybe it is, but researching my family history helps me feel grounded and more connected to humanity so I derive a lot of benefit from it.
paganel 2y ago
I’m on mobile and too lazy to check, but is ancestry.com related in any way to Jehovah’a Witnesses? I’m asking because at some point I was online searching for any info about the Russian Imperial census held at the end the 1890s and, to my surprise, the JW website had all the info in there (or at least almost all the info on the region I was interested in, Kherson). And then I found out that this sort of stuff is right down JW’s alley for some religion-related reason, good for them.
- AlexandrB 2y ago
  Not Jehova's witnesses but the founders are Mormon and the company operates out of Utah.
- thaumasiotes 2y ago
  > at some point I was online searching for any info about the Russian Imperial census held at the end the 1890s Any idea where I might find a list of Russian navy officers from then or the following decades?
datavirtue 2y ago
They should do a social media AI play where they just friend everyone for you.
rocho 2y ago
But a genetic analysis to find your "roots" is also something you do once. Does Ancestry have subscriptions for that?
- punchmesan 2y ago
  Ancestry does more than genetic analysis. Their claim to fame is their tools to search through old public records to help one build their genealogy/family tree.
fph 2y ago
It's sad that we have come to a point where people frown upon a company that makes a product and sells it, without luring their customers in with monthly subscriptions.

by bruceb 2y ago

yellowapple 2y ago

> 23andme has basically given up on this part of the business. The routine emails I get about them allegedly finding new DNA relatives suggest otherwise. The DNA relatives feature is also still pretty prominent in their UI (at least on desktop browsers; haven't looked at the app yet). That said, it certainly doesn't offer much beyond "these are your relatives; send 'em some messages or something lol". Ancestry probably has a lot more features on that front, which is unsurprising since that's the sort of thing Ancestry was doing long before they even offered DNA sequencing kits like 23andMe does. I don't know if I'd characterize that as 23andMe "giving up", though; more that it's good enough for a product that never intended to enter the genealogy software market in the first place.

codedokode 2y ago
I wonder, do the "relatives" know and agree that their information is sent to other person?
- sitharus 2y ago
  …yes that’s how it works? You opt in and choose what you share. They’re quite explicit about it.
  - nnutter 2y ago
    I would say it's a little more murky than that. My anecdotal experience is in the context of Ancestry.com. Effectively, I might not consent to having my information shared but if my uncle, nephew, etc. does it is effectively still being shared.
  - michaelcampbell 2y ago
    > You opt in and choose what you share Until the company gets breached and your choices mean squat. Thanks, no.
- PawgerZ 2y ago
  Yes. You must opt in. When you opt in, you can elect to show your full name, or just initals (may be other options but I opted in long ago).
LgWoodenBadger 2y ago
The new-DNA-relatives feature is one of the few "growth" things they can continue to bother you with, outside of newly-discovered genome-based indicators for diseases. I get/got spammed by them about new relatives on the order of "6th cousin who shares 0.3% of your DNA." Thanks, but who cares...
- busseio 2y ago
  "Give the kits as gifts!" and you can learn about your closer relatives /s-ish
Slava_Propanei 2y ago
[dead]

Simon_ORourke 2y ago

> leader in the find long lost relative space/your "roots" space. Acknowledging Ancestry.com are well ahead of the market here, but I never got their appeal of finding some long-lost second cousins... basically strangers, and saying, "hey, isn't it fascinating that we share some arbitrary level of common genetic makeup". If some randomer reached out via email to me doing this big reveal I'd be "thanks, but into the spam folder with you".

tylergetsay 2y ago
I think a more common use case might be finding siblings if your adopted, or trying to reengage with your roots if you were say a member of an indian tribe or native hawaiian. I have a family member who is retired and has taken up geneology as a hobby, she has connected our family history really far back. Not my cup of tea personally but I can see the appeal, its like a treasure hunt. She has traveled to go to old libraries and dig up newspaper archives.
- creshal 2y ago
  Another common use case is "I wonder where all my family went after $War"; some families are still trying to figure out where their parents' families ended up at after WW2, or if they survived at all.
_DeadFred_ 2y ago
I've found it extremely interesting. It's brought me greater insight into my grandfather I knew nothing about, and even the (very few) family traditions/recipes that have come down to me. It's made the world feel smaller and more connected, seeing actual relatives in all of these far off places, in the kind of way I always HOPED the internet would bring interconnectedness. I think it's inherently human to want to understand who we are and where come from. Especially for someone like me in the USA. How did my people end up here?
jkhdigital 2y ago
I don’t think anyone is actually trying to connect with distant cousins for social interaction; rather the shared DNA segments provide hard evidence to confirm distant ancestors. I got into genealogy a couple years ago after thumbing through some old family documents and I’ve been able to confirm 6th cousins (traced via our shared ancestors) using 23andMe data. Now there are probably some who think genealogy is a silly pastime and maybe it is, but researching my family history helps me feel grounded and more connected to humanity so I derive a lot of benefit from it.

paganel 2y ago

I’m on mobile and too lazy to check, but is ancestry.com related in any way to Jehovah’a Witnesses? I’m asking because at some point I was online searching for any info about the Russian Imperial census held at the end the 1890s and, to my surprise, the JW website had all the info in there (or at least almost all the info on the region I was interested in, Kherson). And then I found out that this sort of stuff is right down JW’s alley for some religion-related reason, good for them.

AlexandrB 2y ago
Not Jehova's witnesses but the founders are Mormon and the company operates out of Utah.
thaumasiotes 2y ago
> at some point I was online searching for any info about the Russian Imperial census held at the end the 1890s Any idea where I might find a list of Russian navy officers from then or the following decades?

datavirtue 2y ago

They should do a social media AI play where they just friend everyone for you.

rocho 2y ago

But a genetic analysis to find your "roots" is also something you do once. Does Ancestry have subscriptions for that?

punchmesan 2y ago
Ancestry does more than genetic analysis. Their claim to fame is their tools to search through old public records to help one build their genealogy/family tree.

fph 2y ago

It's sad that we have come to a point where people frown upon a company that makes a product and sells it, without luring their customers in with monthly subscriptions.