RootsWeb to be Moved to Ancestry.com

The following was written by Tim Sullivan, CEO of The Generations Network, Inc. and is posted here at the RootsWeb blog:  http://blogs.rootsweb.com/newsroom/

As you know, The Generations Network has hosted and funded the RootsWeb online community since June 2000, thereby maintaining RootsWeb as the world’s oldest and largest free genealogy website. TGN remains committed to this mission and believes that RootsWeb is an absolutely invaluable and complementary resource to Ancestry.com, our flagship commercial family history site. We believe in both services and want to see both communities prosper and grow.

As part of this goal, we have decided to “transplant” RootsWeb onto the Ancestry.com domain beginning next week. This move will not change the RootsWeb experience or alter the ease of navigation to or within RootsWeb. RootsWeb will remain a free online experience. What will be different is that the Web address for all RootsWeb pages will change from www.rootsweb.com to www.rootsweb.ancestry.com. Again, the RootsWeb experience is not changing.

The decision to host RootsWeb on Ancestry.com is being made for one primary reason: we believe that the users of each of our two main websites can be better served if they have access to the best services available on both. Simply stated, we want to introduce more Ancestry.com users to RootsWeb and vice versa.

Today, despite the fact that Ancestry.com and RootsWeb.com are the two most frequently visited family history sites on the Web, only 25 percent of visitors to Ancestry.com visited RootsWeb in January 2008, while only 20 percent of visitors to RootsWeb visited Ancestry.com (according to Comscore Media Metrix). We think we will serve our users best by doing a better job of letting them know what is available on both Ancestry.com and RootsWeb. Hosting RootsWeb on Ancestry.com is the first step towards making this happen, but we will absolutely look for more and better ways down the road to advance this goal.

Hosting RootsWeb on Ancestry.com will also make it easier for us to make changes and improvements to the RootsWeb experience in the future.

All old RootsWeb URLs will continue to work, whether they are bookmarks or favorites, links to or from a hosted page or URLs manually typed in your Internet browser. We will have a redirect in place so that all old URLs will automatically end up on the appropriate new RootsWeb URL. You will never need to update your old favorites or links unless you want to. We have worked to make the transition as seamless as possible for our users, and this change should have a minimal impact on your experience with the site.

RootsWeb will remain a free online experience dedicated to providing you with a place where our community can find their roots together. If you have questions regarding this change please email them to feedback@rootsweb.com.

Thanks,

Tim Sullivan
CEO
The Generations Network, Inc.

Comments

[jon]

The main reason they are moving it to ancestry is a business decision to boost the ancestry.com comscore so they can charge more for their advertisments. If they can show that they have more visitors to ancestry.com than they will have a better score. It will look better for investorsand potential advertisers.

Check this comparison and you will see RW gets more traffic than Ancestry already. http://siteanalytics.compete.com/rootsweb.com+ancestry.com/?metric=uv

This is the ‘real’ primary reason Tim doesn't mention.

[Steve]

The numbers of visitors are close between the two sites, 3.2M for ancestry vs. 3.7M for rootsweb. What is not recorded is the number of overlap, people using both sites, so the numbers used in the article are probably good. I am sure you are correct for I don't believe they are doing this for any other reason than to generate more revenue for they are not a nonprofit organization. However, they to provide a good service by keeping rootsweb free and footing the bill. If this plan helps them cover the cost of keeping rootsweb free and as long as this is not a first step in a longer transition plan to migrate it into ancestry and charge for access, I don’t have a problem with it.

Rootsweb is free to use but someone has to pay for storage and maintenance. This part is not free.

[Paul]

I couldn't agree more with both Jon and Steve. Lets hope that Steve's "win-win" for Ancestry (and its advertisers) and the users of Rootsweb continues for the long-haul. However, in the business world, the only constant is change. Rootsweb may remain free today, but tomorrow..... (there are no guarantees). But we also need to recognize that Ancestry is footing the bill, too.

[Linda Morgan Clark]

Anybody that knows anything about how domains are created and expanded by adding sub-domains, (rootsweb.ancestry.com is a subdomain), can see right through this scheme of ancestry.com's, no matter how carefully the press release is written. The previous comments are right-on! Ancestry needs more revenue and by adding the ancestry.com domain to rootsweb's content will result in more hits for ancestry which translates into a more advertising revenue.

In addition, what no one has picked up on yet is that for the millions of people who use genweb research (which is already hosted by rootsweb) this really means that they too will be presented with pages branded by ancestry loaded up with advertising, like they already see on rootsweb pages. And did I mention that genweb is an all volunteer project? Will they get to share in the new revenue stream? Are you kidding?

[Jason Presley]

As a result of this, many county and state sites are already changing hosts and leaving Rootsweb to avoid the inevitable complete absorption of Rootsweb into Ancestry.

[Sherry Ohern]

I was in Dallas at the GENTEC conference with you Dick when Ancestry announced that Rootsweb would always be free. I was skeptic then and still am. Ancestry's first priority is to make money not preserve free genealogy or to "make it easier" for any of us. The people who promised that are long gone anyway. They are hoping the old people who remember that promise will just die off and they will absorb Rootsweb into Ancestry without anyone noticing. I can tell you that I am less apt to spend hours putting information on the Rootsweb website now for fear that they will charge for my hard work someday.

[Jim]

Simply put, a business and fiscal decision, in the guise of a service enhancement.

Similar theory and progression - Offshore customer call centers for banking. First Ireland - Marketed to investors as better educated and multi-lingual representatives... bottom line much lower salary expense. Next move to India - Marketed to investors as well educated and bi-lingual representatives... bottom line, extremely lower salary expense.

And how many times have I had to say, "Could you please transfer me to someone who I can understand their dialect?"

Fiscally the addition of Rootsweb may be a good move, for The Generations Network. I'm a paying subscriber, and I know the membership price will continue to go up, (and the customer rep script reads - "The company is now providing an included "free access to Rootsweb".) And my next question, "Is there an intent to move the company public?"

[Happy Dae]

Press "1" for Ancestry. Press "2" for Rootsweb. As Robert Zimmerman once sang, "The times, they are a-changin'." It is FREE now, so let's use it whilst we can.

Happy Dae.
http://www.ShoeStringGenealogy.com

[W. David Samuelsen]

Contrary to what TGN is spinning....

USGenWeb Project is pulling out of Ancestry/TGN

Many state projects already moved off Rootsweb for elsewhere where there can be no attempt to obilerate USGenWeb Project.

Same is true with WorldGenWeb Project.

And what's more - if you try Ancestry.com search engines- no results for Rootsweb at all. 99.99 percent OMITTED.

[Ted Rice]

Rootsweb promised that information a person put up, like websites and WorldConnect info, would always belong to the submitter, while information submitted to Ancestry belongs to them. Seems like they would have legal difficulties here if they tried to absorb Rootsweb into Ancestry and charge for access.

My guess is that this is just a ploy to get more advertising income, and we will see a lot more ads showing up on Rootsweb.

[Juvat Jeff]

In addition to absorbing the CONTENT of all stuff on their servers, mail lists and programs, TGN is now in line to OWN the National Archives data. Gaining exclusive USE and rights to distribute.

They (like Footnote) have a contract pending that grants those rights.

Can you say MONOPOLY? Can you say Vertical Trust?

Can you say "back up your content" because the ship is sailing?

[Eric Wood]

I agree with Jim that the takeover of RootsWeb by Ancestry is "a business and fiscal decision, in the guise of a service enhancement". They want more hits on their ancestry domain for advertising dollars.

Do you believe his core argument - that many people on Ancestry do not know of Rootsweb? Why do we (Rootsweb) care about numbers of customers?

Just wait till Ancestry sells to a third party. Do you think that a third party is going to hold to the ex-Ancestry's CEO's spoken words from a few years prior. The Ancestry's CEO will go on and try to convince people that this future takeover is a service enhancement. (Read golden parachuted and $ from stocks). The new management culls workers from the non-revenue-generating areas of the company. They fire all the hardware support people and others in these areas. The new management asks "Why give free info away if you charge people for the same info?".

I see this being the same as AncestryWorldTree. I am one of those who posted a family tree to AncestryWorldTree (which was to always be free). They asked people to donate their tree to OneWorldTree (a paid subscription) service. Ancestry has changed it so AncestryWorldTree (free) has less and less focus by making it harder to: 1) link to, and 2) posting to.

[Debbie Freeman]

If Ancestry was serious about wanting the Rootsweb customers. It would vastly improve their search engine. Ancestry had dumb down their search engine some time ago. I do not want to search 5 pages of incorrect results to locate the one I am looking for. Rootsweb has/had a much better search engine. Glad to know USGENWEB and WORLDGENWEB are not part of the deal.

[Rick B]

With all the changes the last few years with greater competition from footenote.com, etc., its good for the entire genealogical community. USGenWeb pulling away is, I think, long overdue and I think they do need to form their own domain and compete as well. Come on in! The water's warm! Let's not forget, the Internet is becoming or has become a commercial enterprise. Once we get past all the upheaval, its the user that wins at the end of the day with the expansion of services.

[Julia]

If you want a free alternative, please take a look here: http://genealogytrails.com/ It's relatively new and likely doesn't have as much content yet as the GenWeb, but it is free unless you want to become a volunteer and even then its CHEAP.

[Lightning]

What is most oderus to me about Ancestry.com on the Internet is the clocked sites that lead you back to them for pay when you think you have just found a non paying new real data source.
I use my free local library service for Ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com on line searches do tell me whether likely good info stored that I should go to the library.
Lightning

[Sue Irvine]

Bottom line is Ancestry wants more money. For more money - get more customers. For more customers Ancestry could lower the outrageous price! Many retirees can't afford it. Those of us still working can't get their money's worth.

[Randy Seaver]

I have posted extensive commentary and analysis, and my own opinions, about this subject on my Genea-Musings blog at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com/2008/03/rootsweb-to-be-in-ancestry-domain.html.

[D. Stussy]

If this were just a hosting move, then who are we to say...? However, absorption of the domain says alot more. Considering that ancestry has spammed in the past, obviously it's not a friendly site - and this is nothing more but a way to kill yet another free resource...

[Adrian B]

I take it that everyone advocating that the volunteer community move away from Rootsweb/Ancestry is going to put their hand in their pocket to pay for the new hosting - or is everyone in the IT industry supposed to work for free?

If they don't - they'll always be at the mercy of a similar move.

[Jimini]

I remember many moons ago, genealogy was the province of the rich and elderly. It was not easily done by ordinary people. I have been researching in the US since 1970 since "BC" (before computer). My sources were the vital records and books of neighboring states, VT, NH, CT MA, ME; never had much luck with the vast wasteland of NY. Each week I would make 2 out-of town trips, carrying my notebooks, numerous pencils, food and water, enough money for copies, tolls, gas, etc. Once a month I could be found sitting on the steps of NEHGS waiting for them to open. When they swept us all out I would go home. And of course the time consuming snail mail.
Then I bought my first computer - Genealogy heaven! Took me a while to get away from dial up, but then cable. I didn't think there was anything I could not obtain an answer to. I'm so glad to have had that time to gather and assemble data. My circumstances have changed; I will never have employment again so my income is down to ($635/month). No traveling
on that! But the free information was more than enough to keep me busy. Now my vistas are continually diminishing; I no longer have subscriptions to the NEHGS, genealogy societies of CT, NH, VT. Genealogy will once again become the purview of the rich. Too bad.

[Susi Pentico]

I knew Brian and wife long ago. When Brian sold this due to cost of upkeep to them it was with understanding that ROOTSWEB would always be free or there were consequences. NOW its many years later but I suspect that the agreement still stands I have not heard that the creator of ROOTSWEB has passed. So lets hope the statement is for Ancestry to make more money because they do have to do the upkeep but can not charge for our useage.

Susi

[Marianne Fisher]

For the gentlemen stating that the USGENWEB PROJECT is
seperating itself from Rootsweb.com/TGN affillations...where can these statements be verified at online?
Thanks

[Lois]

Long, long ago, there was a movement to keep the whole world wide web out of the hands of commercial interests. And, yes, many IT people were so dedicated to that philosophy that they did perform hundreds or thousands of unpaid hours each. Rootsweb and many similar volunteer projects in family history are a co-operative effort. If all this co-operative, community spirited, unpaid work is sucked into commercial purposes, trust will have been betrayed and the family history community will be demoted into individual customers; too bad about the bitterness and cynicism it will generate amongst those who contributed to the former community. The next generation will not care about any alleged betrayal and even less about the concept of community, co-operation and working for the common good rather than payment.

Excuse me for preaching, but do your children or grandchildren (the under 30s) volunteer except to build up their resumes?

[Melissa]

Every time I see an announcement like this, I always know what the reaction is going to be and boy, does it get boring after a while. I agree that the price for Ancestry's subscription runs on the high side and having it prevents me from affording others but as someone who's had her own hosting company, let me tell that even the most basic packages don't come cheap (or if they do, you usually pay for it in uptime and speed - or lack thereof). I can't imagine how much it must cost Ancestry to not only have the content they do but to have it available 24/7 with as much traffic they get. I'd rather they move a free service to their domain (as long as its kept free and no one has ever found any evidence to the contrary for all the caterwauling) than have my subscription raised. Let them raise the money all they want as long as it doesn't effect my bottom line.