Ancestry.com
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Ancestry.com, subsidiary of The Generations Network, is a subscription based website which helps you uncover your relatives and map your genealogy. The site has over 5 billion records from the US, Canada and Europe ready to add or already added to family trees. It has all relevant Federal Census records since 1790. Records are generally accessible through a paid subscription, but many are free to browse.

Ancestry.com lets users create their own family tree using web software that does not require a download. Users can start a free account if they only want to use Ancestry’s family tree template and fill in their relatives manually. For those who are looking to uncover long lost relative and see if you really are related to the 3rd Czar of Russia, there is a premium and pricey subscription service that will fill in as many of your relatives as possible, filling out the branches of your family tree.

The site was up and alive in 1996, but has taken this long to build substantial steam. It broke through the bubble in 1999/2000 and its parent company, The Generations Network is rumored to bring in over $150 million in annual revenue.

Competitors include Geni and MyHeritage. MyFamily.com is a sister site.

The site has been used by more than a commercial audience. As a side note, it was used to show that ancestors of Al Sharpton were owned by relatives of the late Senator Strom Thurmond.

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