History of Ancestry.com By Michelle McGarry, eHow Contributor Share Print this article Ancestry.

com is a family history website that stores an online collection of 4 b illion historical records. The site has almost 1 million paying subscribers worl dwide who can research their family history through the site. Members can also u pload their family trees and compare notes with other members. Other People Are Reading How to Make Money With Family TreesHow to Make Money With Family TreesAccounts R eceivable for Stock SubscriptionsAccounts Receivable for Stock Subscriptions Services The company bases its service on its unique collection of historical records. Ov er the course of 12 years, the company has developed a system for digitizing and indexing handwritten historical documents, such as census records, military ser vice records, birth and death records, and even court and probate records. For a monthly fee, subscribers can search the collection using the company's propriet ary online search tools. In addition to allowing subscribers to search for records and upload their famil y history data, Ancestry.com provides free webinars about using the site, as wel l as articles on organizing your research. Family history books and software are also for sale on the Web site. Ancestry.com is beginning to deploy tools and technologies to encourage social n etworking. The goal is to enable subscribers to collaborate with relatives to im prove and build their family trees with personal memories and photographs. Origin of Company Ancestry.com began as Ancestry Publishing Company in 1983. At that time, the com pany published family history books. In 1984, the company's first title, The Sou rce: A Guidebook of American Genealogy won "Best Reference Award" from the Ameri can Library Association. In 1992, the company transformed its newsletter into an advertiser-supported magazine, Ancestry. Sponsored Links Ancestry.com Family Tree 8+ bn records. World's largest online family history resource www.ancestry.com The Website In 1995, Ancestry Publishing acquired the Ancestry.com Internet URL. In 1996, An cestry.com was launched. In 1999, the company introduced the first online softwa re that allowed multiple users to simultaneously contribute to a family tree. In 2000, Ancestry.com launched a free online library of instructional family his tory material, and later that year began to add images of actual federal census records to its site. In 2001, Ancestry.com added its one-billionth record to the website. Mergers and Acquisitions The company has gone through numerous transitions and company mergers. In 1997, Infobases Incorporated, Ancestry Incorporated, and the Western Standard Publishi ng Company merged to become the Western Standard Publishing Company. In 1999, An cestry.com changed its name to MyFamily.com. In 2000, MyFamily.com, Inc. acquire d Third Age Media and Ah-ha.com, Inc. In 2002, the company acquired a leading pe ople-finding service, BigHugs. In 2003, MyFamily.com bought Genealogy.com, Famil

ytreemaker.com, and the FamilyTreeMaker software program from A&E Network. In 20 05, MyFamily.com, Inc. acquired Heritage Makers, LLC. Expansions Ancestry.com began creating specialized websites for customers in the British Is les, Canada and Australia. In 2002, the company launched www.ancestry.co.uk for users in the British Isles. In 2006, the company launched www.ancestry.ca for Ca nadian customers and www.ancestry.com.au for customers in Australia. Revenue As of 2009, ancestry.com offers subscriber memberships in levels from $12.95 to $29.95 per month. The company continually enhances content and tools on the webs ite to increase its subscriber base and to serve its existing subscribers. In 20 04, the company's revenues were $122.6 million, which increased to $197.6 millio n in 2008.