Yesterday I was invited to participate in a Conference Call with
Ancestry.com
about some recent decisions made that will affect many genealogists. This morning the official announcement was published on the
Ancestry.com blog and you can read details there. Basically here is what is happening
Ancestry has decided to retire some of their
services: MyFamily, MyCanvas, Genealogy.com, Mundia and the Y-DNA and
mtDNA tests. It's important to note that AncestryDNA (autosomal)
will continue to be available for purchase.
Starting September 5, 2014, these services
will no longer be available to access. Here are more details about each closure
DNA
Only the y-DNA and mtDNA
tests will be retired. Customers can download their raw data on the Ancestry DNA website. Autosomal DNA tests (AncestryDNA) will be the focus
MyFamily
Refunds will be issued automatically to site owners of active MyFamily sites. These refunds are effective as of June 5, 2014 and will be pro-rated to this date.
Genealogy.com
Genealogy.com will continue in a slightly different form. Certain portions of Genealogy.com will still exist but will not be interactive. They will exist in read-only format
–GenForum message boards
–Family Tree Maker homepages
–The most popular articles
MyCanvas
Between now and September 4th, customers can finish current projects or start and complete new ones. After September 4th, MyCanvas will no longer accept printing orders and all projects will be deleted
Mundia
Members can download the family trees they’ve created in their native language before September 5, 2014. Mundia trees can be accessed for free on Ancestry.
I can see the logic behind these closures. Any company has finite resources to commit to projects. With Ancestry focusing on their main goals, customers should see more data coming online as well as other new things.
With Autosomal DNA being the most complete DNA test that's the route to go and the test genealogists will want in order to make connections with other relatives. I'm sure some genealogists will be upset about MyCanvas closing but there are many good alternatives out there. Personally I love
Shutterfly for creating Family History books.
Please take a few moments to read
Ancestry.com official blog post at the URL above and reach out on Social Media to Ancestry with questions or concerns you might have.
