A Lot of Gnashing of Teeth over New Search vs Old Search

Approximately one year ago, Ancestry.com warned users that they would be eliminating the Old Search Engine at year's end. Meantime New Search was online and users were encouraged to use it, get used to it and be ready for Old Search to disappear.

Last Monday Old Search was removed from the website.  The predictable happened. The same genealogists who moan and groan every time any website makes changes (Facebook comes to mind...) were once more front and center. Complaints ("New Search sucks!" "I hate New Search") and threats ("I'll unsubscribe if they don't bring Old Search back!") poured onto Facebook and other Social Media.

But let's look at the facts. According to Ancestry.com only 3% of their users were still sticking to Old Search when both options were available. Also, no matter how much a vocal minority claimed that Old Search was better, it wasn't. New Search is more powerful and can do so much more than Old Search.

Yes it is a new tool. There is a learning curve. It doesn't work the same way as Old Search. But we all had over a year to learn how to make the best use of it to deliver the results we are looking for. And there are several excellent tips and videos on using New Search that are available to help the transition.

So why are some genealogists refusing to give it a try? I believe it is because deep down we don't like change. And the older we get the less we like it! One of my Facebook friends said he was cancelling his subscription to Ancestry because using New Search was frustrating. I bet it was equally frustrating when he learned to do long division or ride a bike or swim or drive a car. But I also bet he persevered and learned how to do it.

And for those who are threatening to unsubscribe or who have already done so in protest, that's what my mother always called "Biting off your nose to spite your face". Yes there are many wonderful genealogy websites out there. And yes, FamilySearch has so many databases you could spend weeks going through them. But Ancestry has many databases that are not online anywhere else. So I truly don't understand why anyone would deliberately cut themselves off from accessing every possible database they could.

I use Ancestry.com New Search. And I like it. I have no problems narrowing down my searches to get more relevant results. If you want to learn how to use New Search, please have a look at these wonderful tips that Randy Seaver has been posting and the Videos that Crista Cowan has put online.

Start with Randy's post Ancestry Drops "Old Search" - Hysteria Ensues He has links there to his helpful tips for using New Search. Then pop over to YouTube for one of Crista Cowan's videos Smart Search: Tips & Tricks

You might also check out my July 2013 blog post Old Search vs New Search - Your Chance to Submit Feedback. It's too late for feedback but you can read the explanation from Ancestry.com and follow their links for tips and suggestions.

Just because something is new or different doesn't mean we all have to ignore it or get angry, or cry out "why do they have to keep changing things". It's called progress. And without progress we would still be using smoke signals as a method of communication instead of email, texting, telephones, Skype, iPhones, Video Chats, Magic Jack and more.  And who knows, those genealogists who are refusing to accept New Search might just surprise themselves with how great it is if they gave it half a chance.

Old Search vs New Search - Your Chance to Submit Feedback

Olive Tree Genealogy was recently invited to participate in a Conference Call with Ancestry.com and a few other bloggers to discuss New Search. It was a very educational call and our input was listened to. We also were given the opportunity to participate in the Product Development Team's ideas for improvements in their Search Engine.

As many of you know there has been much wailing and gnashing of teeth over Old Search being "replaced" by New Search. Users of Old Search have expressed their displeasure. In my opinion a lot of the complaints stem, not from logic, but from emotional responses to change.

Many of us dislike change. We often have a great deal of time invested in learning a certain way of doing something. When that changes the natural reaction is to be ticked - "all that time and I like how it works!" 

But change is often a GOOD thing! Change can mean we are getting something better or getting something that will ADD to the experience of the old.

I also noticed that many of those objecting to New Search have not given it a fair trial. In fact one user told me that it was the "perception" that New Search would not give the same results or be as "good" as Old Search that had her riled. But perception is not knowledge. By knowledge I mean the knowledge that comes with trying New Search for a period of time and comparing the results with those you obtained with Old Search. I urge those of my readers who are upset about New Search to give it a try, you might find you prefer it!

The Product Team at Ancestry.com also sent me this email which may help alleviate fears of Old Search users. It is important that we all submit feedback as Ancestry.com has requested. This is how we can help the product developers work WITH us for a top-notch experience when we research. 

In an effort to continually improve your experience on Ancestry.com, we are asking for feedback on our search function. Our plan is first to gather feedback from our core users. We will take all of that feedback into account when we are merging the functionality of Old Search and current search into a consolidated search experience.

You can take the survey here: http://ancestry.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_8ubNXU8IiQcxqVD

Many of the recent concerns and comments have cited functionality that actually exists in current search, as well as in old search – specifically:

1. Our current search experience allows users to view search results as a list of ranked records or as a consolidated list of categories.
2. Our current search experience allows users to do “Exact Match” searches.
3. Our current search experience allows users to specify a “Collection Priority” to filter results by country.

Crista Cowan has a great educational video which demonstrates this functionality in the current search experience:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c423yU5Ccs0

We also have a helpful article which does a side-by-side explanation of how to achieve the same types of results with the current search as in Old Search: http://ancestry.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5569/kw/old

Thank you,

The Ancestry.com Product Team