Tag: Ancestry Old Search

Poll shows 50% of respondents want Ancestry’s ‘old search’ to remain

Results from the poll question ‘Ancestry are ditching their ‘old search’ tool. Are you sad to see it go?’ reveals that half of respondents want ‘old search’ to remain.

For the last few days, genealogists have been airing their concerns about Ancestry.com’s decision to kill off it’s ‘old search’ tool. A poll conducted on this website finds that 50% of the respondents want ‘old search’ to remain.

Ancestry.com 'old search' poll results

Questioning the quality of the Ancestry ‘new search’ search results in discussions on blogs, on twitter, and in LinkedIn groups, professional genealogists and amateur family historians alike have been vocal in their concerns at the demise of ‘old search’. Those who want ‘old search’ to remain, claim that it provides more exact matches and fewer ‘padded out’ results (the ‘padding’ being photos and member tree matches – both of which are known to be blighted by swathes of incorrect information).

However, almost a quarter of respondents said that they use ‘new search’ and the remainder were split between those who ‘don’t mind’ (14%), and those who were not aware that there are two different searches (14%).

Unsure whether you’re using new or old? Here’s how to tell…

Checking which Ancestry Search you're using
Checking which Ancestry.co.uk Search version you’re using

Visit Ancestry.com (or .co.uk as in the screenshot above). Click ‘Search’ in the navigation, and then check over to the right. Whichever version it names here, you’re using the other one!

Ancestry.com claim that they are taking notice, and have launched a survey to collect the responses from users.

The poll on this site ran from June 29 – July 5 2013.

POLL: Good riddance or a sad farewell to Ancestry ‘Old Search’?

Ancestry.com has revealed that it is killing off its ‘old search’ tool.

Ancestry.com logo

Unexpectedly, this has caused quite a storm with those who favour the tool, with many taking to social media to vent their concerns.

American genealogist Randy Seaver swiftly carried out a comparative test of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ search and posted his results.

So, I thought I would do a quick poll, to see where you sit on the issue….

To be honest, I had been pretty oblivious to the switch from old to new until I saw a few tweets about it. ‘New Search’ arrived some time ago, and as I stare at so many sites that go under a re-design/upgrade, this would have just been another one that made a few design changes.

I remember the concerns regarding the changes that FamilySearch did to their site, and the anger every time Facebook ‘dares’ to change its site.

I can only assume that Ancestry made a change to its site because they felt they had a legitimate reason (remember, they are a business, and therefore have business reasons) to make the change, and I’m sure they believe that it will be an improvement, otherwise why spend the cash on doing it?

Whilst talking with the panel after last night’s What’s Up Genealogy? episode came off air, it was suggested that this change may well have been done to improve the notion of ‘connecting people’. Of course, connecting people is great for a genealogy site – doubt anyone would dispute that – and ‘connecting’ is a great way to get return visits, loyalty, and ultimately a subscription that means more developments and records can be added in future.

Take a look at the articles below which discuss the change, and let me know what you think in the poll and comments.

Video: What’s Up Genealogy – Episode 11 with Andrew Martin

Catch up with my interview on episode 11 of the What’s Up Genealogy? show.

Last night I was the guest on What’s Up Genealogy? show – broadcast live via Google Hangout Air and streamed straight through to YouTube.

The show is hosted on US Central Time from Texas, meaning that whilst the show goes out each Friday at 8pm, for me here in the UK on BST this was a 2am slot. Fuelled entirely on extra strong tea, I was able to take part. I might even have been coherent – i’ll let you be the judge…

Presented by professional genealogist Caroline Pointer, and in the company of regular expert panel members Linda McCauley, Tessa Keough, Jerry Kocis and Gena Philibert-Ortega, I joined the panel to talk genealogy news and tips before going under the spotlight.

We covered the ‘controversial’ subject of the death of Ancestry Old Search – a topic that flared up on social media immediately after it was announced (check out Dick Eastman’s article on it). We also talked about the death of Google Reader and the rise of Feedly, and I talked about the importance of family/local history societies.

Let me know what you think. You can catch the rest of the episodes over at the show’s YouTube channel.