The Generations Network

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The Generations Network
Type Private
Founded 1983
Headquarters Provo, Utah, United States
Key people Tim Sullivan, President and CEO[1]
Industry Family history, Genealogy, Kinship and descent
Products Family Tree Maker genealogy software, online subscriptions, related books, Ancestry Magazine
Revenue US$150 million
Employees ~1300 worldwide (2006)
Website www.tgn.com

The Generations Network is an Internet company based in Provo, Utah and the largest for-profit genealogy company in the world.[2] They run a growing network of genealogy and family-related websites.

In addition to their main sites, The Generations Network operates FamilyHistory.com, which contains basic information for free, but mostly serves as a portal to Ancestry.com.[3] They also publish Ancestry Magazine and formerly published Genealogical Computing before the magazine ceased publication in 2006. They have a presence in the United Kingdom under the name The Generations Network Ltd., whose offices are located in Hammersmith, London, England and Munich, Germany.[4][5]

Contents

[edit] History

In 1996, Infobases invested in Ancestry, a print publishing company founded in 1983, later purchasing the company outright from founder John Sittner. Paul Allen (not the Microsoft co-founder) and Dan Taggart began running Ancestry independently from Infobases in July 1997, and began creating one of the largest online subscription-based genealogy database services.[6] The company changed its name to "MyFamily.com" in November 1999 since its mission included both genealogy and connecting families to each other.

The MyFamily.com website launched in December 1998 with free sites beginning in March 1999,[7] obtaining 1 million registered users within its first 140 days.[6] The company raised more than US$90 million in venture capital from investors including Intel, CMGI, AOL, Kodak, Compaq, Sorenson, Esnet, Vspring and Tango Partners.[6] Sales for 2002 were about US$62 million, and those for 2003 were US$99 million.[8]

In March 2004, the company opened a new call center in Provo due to outgrowing their old call center in Orem. The new call center can accommodate approximately 700 agents at one time.[9] Heritage Makers was acquired in September 2005,[10] and sold a year later in August 2006.[citation needed] The Ancestry.ca website was opened on January 24, 2006.[11] In March 2006, MyFamily opened a new office in Bellevue, Washington as part of the MyFamily business unit.[12] Encounter Technologies was acquired in April 2006.[13]

The company changed its name to "The Generations Network" on December 19, 2006.[14] While the company formerly offered access to Ancestry.com free at any LDS Family History Center, that service was terminated on 2007-03-17 due to the inability to reach a mutually-agreeable licensing agreement between TGN and the LDS Church, but recently service was reinstated at several of the larger Family History Centers.[15]

[edit] Products and services

[edit] Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is a subscription-based genealogy research website with over 5 billion records online and more being added almost daily.[16] The majority of records are from the United States, though a growing number of records are being added for other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and various European countries. Some of these records are free for anyone to access, but the majority are accessible only by paid subscription.

On June 22, 2006, Ancestry.com completed the indexing and scanning of all of the United States Federal Census records from 1790 through 1930.[17][18]

Subscriptions are automatically renewed unless canceled via the web or by phone, as described in site's Terms and Conditions.[19] As commonly happens with the terms of service on many Internet sites, most members do not pay attention to or read them and are therefore surprised when their subscriptions automatically renew. The automatic renewal system has caused controversy, as documented on the sites below.

Ancestry.com was nominated for a 2007 CODiE Award in the "Best Online Consumer Information Service" category.[20] The site was also used recently to show that ancestors of Al Sharpton were owned by relatives of the late Senator Strom Thurmond.[21]

[edit] Non-U.S. sites

Ancestry.com operates multiple non-U.S.-centric sites which give access to records specific to various other countries. Ancestry.ca allows for access to only those records from Canada. This allows those accessing the site to avoid search results containing records from elsewhere in the world. The online records include more than 150 million searchable names, as well as the first fully indexed 1911 Census of Canada.

Ancestry.com.au allows for access to only those records from the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia, thereby avoiding search results containing records from elsewhere in the world. The site was opened sometime in August 2006.

Ancestry.co.uk allows for access to only those records from the United Kingdom and Ireland, thereby avoiding search results containing records from elsewhere in the world. The Ancestry.co.uk site received almost 4 million visitors in February 2006, up from about 2.2 million in July 2005.[22] Some credit for this increase in genealogical interest is given to recent BBC shows such as Who Do You Think You Are?.[22]

Ancestry.de was launched in 2006 and Ancestry.it was launched in mid-2007, each offering census records, immigration lists, and other records.

[edit] Family Heritage Project

This site is set up so that users can order a customized book containing census images, photos and other information regarding a family. The book is leather-bound and contains information up to four generations of a family.[23] As of December 2006, the book is no longer available for order.[24]

[edit] Family Tree Maker

Advertised as "the #1-selling family tree software on the market."[25] As with other genealogy software, Family Tree Maker allows you to keep track of all of the information you collect as you are researching, and then create reports, charts, and books containing that information. The software was developed by Banner Blue, then purchased by Broderbund. It passed through the hands of The Learning Company, Mattel, and others before coming under its current ownership. At present, it is offered for users of Microsoft Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista only, with no plans to release it on any other platforms.[26][27] Most features of Family Tree Maker 2005, 2006, and 16 function with Windows Vista, but certain features such as exporting views, books, or trees to PDF, require an update. Even still, Vista must be run with an administrator account to preview books.[28]

Family Tree Maker Version 16 was nominated for a 2007 CODiE Award in the "Best Consumer Productivity Solution" category.[20]

Family Tree Maker 2008 released August 14, 2007, but users are criticising it. It has been redesigned and users are missing features that existed in previous versions, and reporting performance problems and even data loss.[29]

[edit] Genealogy.com

A genealogy research website with some records not found on Ancestry.com, though the total number of records available is smaller. Genealogy.com was acquired from A&E Networks by MyFamily.com in 2003.[30]

[edit] LongLostPeople.com

This site allows you to search public records for living people in the United States.[31]

[edit] MyFamily.com

An Internet website which allows anyone to create a family or group website (e.g., a class reunion site, a club site) within a matter of minutes. A basic template for the site can be manipulated to turn on or off various modules for the main page, but the customization is limited. This may, however, change as they are currently running a public beta "MyFamily.com 2.0".[32]

[edit] RootsWeb.com

A free genealogy community which makes excellent use of online forums and mailing lists to help people research their family history. RootsWeb was founded in 1993 by Dr. Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson as the Roots Surname List, and quickly grew from there. It is the oldest free community genealogy research site.[33] RootsWeb was acquired by MyFamily.com in June 2000.[34] Users can also upload a GEDCOM of their information for others to view.

[edit] Controversy

There are some who disapprove of the policies and business practices of The Generations Network and the sites it operates and have been catalogued by sites such as BadBusinessBureau.com. Ancestry.com and affiliates sell perpetual subscriptions that only end when canceled that sometimes continue to accrue for long deceased subscribers.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "MyFamily.com names Tim Sullivan as President and CEO", PRNewswire, 2005-09-15 accessdate=2008-04-21. 
  2. ^ Peter Wayner. "From Shared Resources, Your Personal History", The New York Times, 2004-04-22. Retrieved on 2007-04-13. 
  3. ^ FamilyHistory.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  4. ^ Contact MyFamily. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  5. ^ Ancestry.com Expands Its Scotland Census Collection. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter (2006-12-01). Retrieved on 2007-04-13.
  6. ^ a b c Infobase Ventures Portfolio Companies. Infobase Ventures. Archived from the original on 2007-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  7. ^ MyFamily.com begins offering free sites (1999-03-11). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  8. ^ Paul Allen (2006-05-20). My Companies: A Chronological View of My Entrepreneurial Endeavors. paulallen.net. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  9. ^ "MyFamily growing in Utah", Deseret News, 2004-04-13. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  10. ^ "Acquisition of Heritage Makers", PRNewswire, 2005-09-21. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  11. ^ Release of Ancestry.ca (2006-01-24). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  12. ^ Bellevue, Washington office opened (2006-03-23). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  13. ^ MyFamily.com acquires Encounter Technologies (2006-04-27). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  14. ^ MyFamily.com, Inc. Changes Corporate Name to The Generations Network (2006-12-19). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  15. ^ Dick Eastman (2007-03-18). Ancestry.com Terminates Free Access in Family History Centers. Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
  16. ^ Genealogy Databases Posted or Updated Recently. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
  17. ^ "Genealogical site digitizes millions of census records", CNN.com, 2006-06-22. Retrieved on 2006-06-23. 
  18. ^ Ancestry.com Digitizes Entire U.S. Federal Census Collection From 1790-1930. Retrieved on 2006-06-23.
  19. ^ Terms and Conditions (2005-09-21). Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
  20. ^ a b Finalists - The 22nd Annual SIIA Codie Awards. Retrieved on 2007-01-26.
  21. ^ Austin. "Slavery links families", The New York Daily News, 2007-02-24. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  22. ^ a b Millions log on to discover their ancestors (2006-03-27).
  23. ^ Common Questions. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  24. ^ Family Heritage Project. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  25. ^ FamilyTreeMaker.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  26. ^ What are the system requirements for Family Tree Maker 2006?. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  27. ^ Is Family Tree Maker available for the Macintosh?. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  28. ^ Family Tree Maker Update for Windows Vista. The Generations Network. Retrieved on 2007-03-11.
  29. ^ An Eleven (11) Year Previously Satisfied User's Review of: Family Tree Maker 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-15.
  30. ^ Acquisition of Genealogy.com (2003-04-18). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  31. ^ Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved on 2006-12-26.
  32. ^ MyFamily.com 2.0 beta. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  33. ^ RootsWeb.com. Family First (2005-09-24). Retrieved on 2007-08-23.
  34. ^ Acquisition of RootsWeb (2000-06-21). Retrieved on 2006-12-26.

[edit] External links