Ancestry's New DNA Feature - Enhanced Shared Matches

[@robarsenault1025]

Two questions question one, can you sort by the shared matches amount of shared centimorgans and question two? Any idea when pro tools is going to be in Canada? This will be a game changer for my DNA research with my endogamy

[@AncestryAimee]

I don’t think so, although that’s a good idea. Ancestry are you listening? The matches are listed by the amount of DNA you share with them, not the match. Crista Cowan recently said they are “very soon” going to have it available in Canada and the UK.

[@JustAGuitarPlayer]

I am thrilled that this feature finally exists in Ancestry! I have been asking for it for years since I saw it as a standard feature in my heritage. I’ve been writing to ancestry about it and a few other things I wish they’d add (the ability to create more grandparent couple groups to group our dna matches and for them to revert to showing more shared matches (instead of needing the shared match to share 20cm to be a shared match, I’m hoping they’ll reduce that number back to 7cm that I believe they used to use as a shared minimum cm amount to show a third person as a “shared” match. Anyway I’m very happy with this new addition even if so far I’m having to pay the extra $10 but I do hope it becomes a standard feature cause it’s really a game changer

[@robarsenault1025]

Oh, the pro tools are available in Canada. I just did not know how to find them. The trick is to search for pro tools on Google and then you can sign up. Strange how it wasn't in the upgrade link

[@AncestryAimee]

@robarsenault1025 good to know!

[@robarsenault1025]

@@AncestryAimee since I don't seem to find a way of sorting the matches of matches easily, what I ended up doing was going to through lines, creating a group and then filtering the matches by that group. Not ideal, but it seems to work I did click on the feedback form to suggest additional sorting options to ancestry

[@ChaiLatte13]

I'm sad that we are excited for something that every other company gives for free. You cannot even see shared matches at all anymore without a subscription.

[@AncestryAimee]

I understand your frustration and maybe Ancestry won’t be the leader in a few years. MyHeritage does offer the same comparison. But the size of their database is tough to argue. You certainly aren’t alone in your frustration.

[@UVIcki]

They've taken the paywall to extreme and have ruined the hints section. Now because you can't even clip images without a subscription, people are uploading their own, so now there's 100s of copies of the exact same thing in hints. Ancestry indexes the records, but users added a lot of information and that should all be free. Images should be free.

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@AncestryAimee True. This tool is only as good as the size of the database.

[@tomask1436]

@@sylviabargas3340 Larger size do not automatically mean higher quality. Since this feature from Ancestry does not even include triangulation and information about the shared segment, it is practically unuseful unless your goal is to just randomly connect as many people as possible to your tree. But people are paying and paying...

[@tomask1436]

It is funny. MyHeritage provides it for many years. If people had tested with MyHeritage for these years, their database would grow and everyone would have such features for ages. But those who said that feature is not useful or privacy issue before, are now "excited" 😀

[@TiddlesTheBearBaiter]

Ancestry : " if you want basic stuff everyone gives you for free its simple - just pay us more $$ on top of our already high annuam membership fees". Their business model has become a pure money grab.

[@AncestryAimee]

It has changed over the last few years. I understand your frustration.

[@MaxCarroll]

I think this should be included in with ancestry membership

[@sylviabargas3340]

Keep in mind that Ancestry will do what's best for THEM. And they've determined THEY'RE better off charging us extra for it. And if they HAD included it in the membership, you can betcha they'd have RAISED THE PRICE of the membership. So which do you prefer? At least now the people who don't want it aren't having to pay for it.

[@AncestryAimee]

I agree with Sylvia. But you aren’t alone in your feelings Max.

[@Nataph333]

It used to be included in the basic package, they've just recently started charging for this feature a few months ago. 😡

[@AncestryAimee]

@Nataph333 that’s true that matches were not charged in the past and now are. There are many very upset about that. This feature is new though, and added to those provided as part of those charged.

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@AncestryAimee It's brand new to be able to see how our matches are related TO EACH OTHER. At least on Ancestry. The other DNA firms have had that for some time.

[@neildevers8952]

It should be part of the subscription - where does it end? You have to pay extra for something here, something there!

[@AncestryAimee]

It is on MyHeritage. Maybe Ancestry will reevaluate.

[@tomask1436]

@@AncestryAimee they will not reevaluate if people pays for it

[@AncestryAimee]

@tomask1436 maybe. But I think they may be seeing some changes in subs.

[@delftblue8801]

The Ryan Air of genealogy

[@weasiesworks]

This is something that MyHeritage has been doing for free.

[@AncestryAimee]

Yes. True when you purchase your test from them.

[@weasiesworks]

@@AncestryAimee No, I uploaded a test I had taken at 23andMe. I never purchased a test from MyHeritage.

[@kayeemerson6892]

Ancestry will not be doing anything for free. It's all about money.

[@johnford3825]

Ancestry is turning into the Adobe of the genealogy world. Money, money, money, gimme, gimme, gimme. No longer worth the expense.

[@sylviabargas3340]

Well, they ARE a for-profit company. Did you think they were a charity or 501c3?

[@runemasterhariwulfaz5267]

I definitely encourage people to at least get their trees on Geni. I’ve made way more connections on there than anywhere else

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@runemasterhariwulfaz5267 Yeah, but it's not free--even if you have a MyHeritage membership. Is Geni any better than FamilySearch (which is free)?

[@tomask1436]

@@sylviabargas3340 If the company is for-profit does it mean that it must screw users as much as possible?

[@AncestryAimee]

I’m hearing a lot of frustration and you’re not alone but I agree with @sylviabargas3340 it’s a for profit company. They have made a great deal of pricing changes lately. Perhaps they will realize it was an error to move as they have but I do know the ProTools angle was to only bill the folks interested in those features. Reach out to Ancestry and let them know your thoughts.

[@kathrynludrick4821]

Pro Tools shared matches is AWESOME. I've been able to identify shared matches and see which ancestor they descend from, that i had no clue who they were, bc the matches had no tree or had names that weren't familiar. And confirm who is MCRA. It is time consuming but to me it is worth the time.

[@AncestryAimee]

I agree! It’s helped me as well. So glad you’ve figured it out and had some success.

[@sm_makai]

The matches-of-matches feature has made it possible to see, where there is just one shared segment, how many generations that one segment can persist. I can now see that my nephew inherited the entirety of a 50-cM segment his dad shares with a couple of 4th and 5th cousins who have tested at/uploaded to FTDNA. I really hope that Ancestry adds a triangulation function. I'd love to apply it to the many other cousins who haven't uploaded to other sites, and probably never will.

[@AncestryAimee]

You’re not alone in that desire!

[@rkdazet]

Thank you, Aimee! It seems like this may be useful for some people, though perhaps not for me. Looking at Ancestry's examples, those are all people closely related that share large amounts of DNA. I figured out long ago how most of my matches over, say 30 cm, are related to me. I would like to figure out the surnames of several 3rd great grandmothers and the names of my 4th great grandparents in those branches. I have 5 groups of DNA matches that I've created that are related to the others in each group and to me and in some cases my siblings. I'm pretty sure these matches are related to the 3rd and 4th mystery grandparents that I mentioned, but I don't know how. Most all of the matches in these groups are 30cm or less, so I question whether this tool can be helpful for my research. As mentioned, some other other taking companies already include these features at no additional cost. What I really think would be most helpful is the ability to compare and triangulate the shared DNA segments of the matches in these groups which it seems, sadly, is something that will never happen with Ancestry DNA.

[@AncestryAimee]

Completely agree on all points. I have similar situations in my roadblocks which matches are further up the tree. I have found that it is assisting me in building the matches tree so I can hopefully better start to see how they are all related and then perhaps figure it out but I’m not there in those instances yet either.

[@rkdazet]

@@AncestryAimee So I decided to give Pro Tools a try, at least for a month, even though I was bit skeptical that it could help in my case. One of the first things I notice, is that before, I would only have shared matches with a match if there were other matches with more than 20 cM. Now that is not the case. So a match with say 10 cM in common that showed no shared matches, does have shared matches. Of course now in my groups and sub groups I can see exactly how those in those groups are related. In one group many are close family members, which I would not otherwise know, because of all the cryptic user names and lack of family trees. Very interesting so far. Perhaps i will uncover a few good clues. But of course, there is no substitute for records and documents. The Pro Tools feature does seem to slow things down a bit My criticism is, this tool should already be included in the Expensive subscriptions that I am already paying for! After all, I am, like many of use a retired senior on a fixed income and there is a limit to what I can afford. Really I shouldn't be spending all this money on genealogy.

[@rkdazet]

Jonny Pearl just released a blog about the new ProTools here: dnapainter.com/blog/ancestry-pro-tools-matches-of-matches-my-experience-so-far/

[@AncestryAimee]

@rkdazet I hadn’t seen that yet. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@AncestryAimee]

@rkdazet thanks so much for sharing your observations. I really appreciate it.

[@delftblue8801]

This tool is already included in the basic 23 and me kits.

[@AncestryAimee]

It is. It’s also included in MyHeritage results.

[@Lady_E_127]

Yes but with testers rarely linking their family trees, it’s not as useful for me to glance back at 3-5 generations.

[@peterCalabria3]

Wow you explained everything perfectly short and direct enough to comprehend now challenge for myself to find non expected parent. Thanks 🙏

[@AncestryAimee]

Wow! Thanks. Hope you find success!

[@peterCalabria3]

@@AncestryAimee Thank you

[@Carolineej]

I’m in the uk, and I have had the new shared match list for a few days now. The initial list of matches hasn’t changed yet, only the shared matches screens (I pay for Pro at the moment). Is there anyway to edit the relationship between the shared matches? Ie if I know who both shared match’s are and what the relationship is between them, but Ancestry shows an incorrect relationship I can’t figure out if I can correct that.

[@AncestryAimee]

Great question! I heard Crista Cowan of Ancestry say that was NOT possible at the moment. Much of it is based on Thrulines which we know can be an issue when trees are incorrect. Put it in your tree correctly and that may help the algorithms correct those relationships.

[@sylviabargas3340]

Without the ability to sort based on the closeness of the relationship between MY MATCH and our Shared Matches (as opposed to the relationship between ME and the Shared Matches) this feature is WAY too time-consuming and cumbersome. Hopefully they will add that ability sooner rather than later. Right now we have to look through ALL of the Shared Matches to find the ones that are useful. This takes a LONG time. My advice: Unless you've got PLENTY of time on your hands, hold off until Ancestry improves the sorting tools.

[@AncestryAimee]

I agree that the ability to sort other ways would be very helpful. It’s helped me a bit already. But it was in cases where I only had 1-2 dozen matches in that group. I find it easy to skim down looking for the match to have a close relationship to somebody.

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@AncestryAimee The problem with that is you can't really tell, by looking at the list, which one of our matches only has 1-2 dozen shared matches (as opposed to 500). You don't know that until you go in. Very time-consuming.

[@AncestryAimee]

That’s true

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@AncestryAimee So I plan to CANCEL Protools before it can renew for a second month. But I WILL resubscribe once Ancestry improves the sorting capabilities. Hopefully you'll give us a heads-up when they do that.

[@AncestryAimee]

@@sylviabargas3340 I will.

[@peterCalabria3]

If you don’t mind me asking can you compare parental matches discarding maternal (say someone already know about their mother side after reunion ages ago) 2) if a person is looking for non expected parent how can you determine a surname when 2 of your 4 second & 3 cousins got married ? 3) would the amount of DNA already be shared without Pro Tools ? 4) Does cm chart give yon likely relationship anyway? 5) even if you found out matches are related what if you don’t have a tree anyway ? ❤

[@AncestryAimee]

First step is to sort your DNA matches to identify the matches that apply to your question. Then you work to build the trees of that group. Watch this video for help sorting: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKTRaJ-ga82boqc

[@peterCalabria3]

@@AncestryAimeeOk thanks have a great day ❤

[@cooperjdcox49]

The one thing that I’m confused about is so many of my matches shared matches are shown as half (1,2,3,4) cousin. 🤷🏼‍♂️ to them.

[@sylviabargas3340]

That means, for example, the same great-grandmother but different great-grandfathers (because she was married twice).

[@cooperjdcox49]

@@sylviabargas3340 Most of them the common ancestry was not married more than once. Pryor to this the only half’s were from mistakes in their tree.

[@cooperjdcox49]

@@sylviabargas3340 Like on thrulines.

[@cooperjdcox49]

@@sylviabargas3340 These are matches of matches and all of a sudden become half cousins.

[@AncestryAimee]

@sylviabargas3340 that can be the case.

[@gerikyte3286]

Not available on my ancestry in Australia

[@AncestryAimee]

They say it’s coming soon. 🤞

[@JoyceBigelow-i3o]

Will I be able to see the shared matches of all of my DNA kits shared or just the ones that I manage? Thank you!

[@AncestryAimee]

Terrific question! You can use the Pro-tools features on the tests that have been shared with your in any way (viewer, collaborator, or manager).

[@JoyceBigelow-i3o]

@@AncestryAimee Excellent! Thank you!

[@AncestryAimee]

@user-dv8qn9wx7b you bet!

[@Rexford-s6s]

I went with 23and Me instead because Ancestry charges for every feature

[@AncestryAimee]

Are you pleased? I’m curious how you’re feeling about it.

[@Rexford-s6s]

@@AncestryAimee I like the feature. I did my dna with ancestry also but i did not pay for the extra feature

[@TtaschiaWenzel-u5c]

I wish it rolled out worldwide not just USA

[@AncestryAimee]

I’ve just heard folks in England have access now. I think it’s starting to roll out worldwide.

[@cooperjdcox49]

It looks like Ancestry is giving an endogenous option automatically for matches 1x or 2x removed do too the cM amount! I dislike that since endogamy is not a major possibility in my tree (only one branch of my tree back too a 2nd GGP.

[@paulmoss4199]

Very interesting, is this available in the UK?

[@AncestryAimee]

Not yet. Ancestry said ProTools will be rolling out to other countries soon.

[@thokozanimpofu1304]

Yes it is available, I am in the UK and I have just registered Pro Tools now for £4.99 monthly. I already have a Subscription and it is working well , not sure how long for yet.

[@AncestryAimee]

@thokozanimpofu1304 thanks for letting us know!

[@Scottishgurl69]

Great tip, can't read the screen

[@AncestryAimee]

Sorry about that. I haven’t heard that from other viewers but appreciate the info!

[@Bigfoots777]

Got it , an upgrade , curious to see the amount CM of child , believe you used father/son , maybe grandfather as well which I've heard can be pretty high . I've got a couple of cousins that don't respond & I don't know who they are . Guess they better take their info off if they want to be completely private now.

[@AncestryAimee]

😏 I hope not but wonder if that will be the case!

[@Bigfoots777]

@@AncestryAimee ok got the upgrade but still can't figure out who the cousins are . They don't have name or pic . Only thing can figure is they must be pretty young & computer savvy , a n y w a y guess don't have any childs or they would be lit up like Christmas tree .

[@Andrei-Lemeshevski]

Just submitters the contact form on your website , hopefully we can talk 🔜

[@PERL60]

I’m not sure why this is only available in the US… very annoying

[@AncestryAimee]

I’ve heard they are working on rolling it to other countries soon. Hopefully soon is soon.

[@jo-annegannon7028]

I have it now in Ontario Canada

[@AncestryAimee]

@jo-annegannon7028 good to know! Thanks

[@FOOTLOOSEsailing]

Oohhh you are talking so fast!!!

[@AncestryAimee]

I know. I do. You can click on the gear wheel and slow me down. Sorry!!

[@cooperjdcox49]

I could waist a lot of time check out the endogenous line.

[@AncestryAimee]

😆

[@harleytiger760]

Nothing like a paid endorsement from Ancestry.

[@AncestryAimee]

I’m not an employee. They have not paid me anything. I’m independent. I was given access to the feature as part of the early beta tests, that’s all.

[@TruthIsLikeTheSun]

Doesn't 23andme do this already.

[@AncestryAimee]

They do and so does MyHeritage. Their databases aren’t as large though so there are more matches to work with at Ancestry.

[@cooperjdcox49]

Also the page doesn’t allow choosing the correct relationship for the matches of matches on the page.

[@AncestryAimee]

Yes. That’s true.

[@texbrazos31]

What frustrates me about Ancestry other than their servers being too busy and timing out is, there is no search feature for DNA members where you can search for First Names, and Dates. You can only search for User, Last Name, and location. Not sure why they do this, but it seems very simple to add.

[@AncestryAimee]

Good point!

[@texbrazos31]

@@AncestryAimee Thanks, and one more thing I would like to bring attention to that is a major problem I have noticed. When searching DNA matches even with just last name and location, it often fails to bring up the proper results. More often than not, saying there are no DNA matches with that surname and location, when you know for a fact there are those results in their trees. It seems the you can look up the surname, but the location match is denied and it will show no matches at all. Not sure what the problem is, but I bet it is really throwing alot of folks off the correct path to ancestors. I have tried to let ancestry know these issues, maybe if enough folks do, they will fix it.

[@AncestryAimee]

@texbrazos31 I’ve actually seen that as well. Thanks for adding it!

[@suzannemcclendon]

This gives me hope that they will finally give us (well, sell us!) what we have been asking to have for years - segment data/chromosome browser. Miracles still happen.😊. Thanks for explaining about the new match pages. I noticed the different look, but not this new feature. Off to have a better look at it now. Thanks again!

[@AncestryAimee]

You’re welcome. I don’t know about segment data. I don’t disagree, but I’ve heard it’s unlikely. Who knows! Hope it helped you break down some walls!

[@robarsenault1025]

Here's an idea they could give us a triangulation tool. If not, the segment data, at least let us know that we all share the same common ancestor without giving us the exact segment information

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@robarsenault1025 Actually, they were supposed to do that. In the video from RootsTech, they said there would be a Triangulation Tool. But I'm not seeing it. Maybe that gets added later.

[@AncestryAimee]

@robarsenault1025 boy have i heard that alot! I’ve heard they won’t do that for privacy reasons (see this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppqlhIybjKh8otUsi=gtBk-3B_Jn53O8Tj)

[@patranye]

Thanks for the information Aimee! This might get me to rethink getting pro tools.

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad it was helpful! Maybe it’s worth it for a month or so?

[@SockGrlz]

If they dont have an attached tree, then this wont help, right?

[@sylviabargas3340]

Actually, it WILL help. It's the only way you can figure out some of these no-tree matches.

[@SockGrlz]

@sylviabargas3340 oh great. I have close connections, but no trees and they dont know either, or haven't replied. That's fantastic if it can help detangle!

[@sylviabargas3340]

@@SockGrlz Yeah, and it's MOST useful when the relationship it identifies is a CLOSE one, such as Person A is the DAUGHTER or Person B. It's much less useful when it tells you Person A is the Third Cousin Twice Removed of Person B. The problem, though, is that Ancestry hasn't included good sorting tools. So you may have to look through dozens and dozens of shared matches, one by one, before you find the one that's the daughter.

[@AncestryAimee]

I couldn’t have said it better than @sylviabargas3340! Hope it helps you @sockgriz with those no tree matches!

[@AnthonyMorgan-m9p]

Thanks for the great video. I'm slightly confused, though, as to whether this can be used to break through brickwalls? I have 'orphaned' clusters of matches where a dozen people are all related to each other, but - because my tree is incomplete - I cannot figure out who our common ancestor is. Will this clarify? Thanks!

[@AncestryAimee]

Yes, absolutely it can. Thanks for the great question. The trick with those orphaned clusters is to connect them together in a tree, to see how they match. When you see their relationships through this new feature, it can be easier to do that. Once you determine their relationships with one another you can put the information into What Are The Odds (WATO) tool to better determine how you fit into their tree. See my video with the creator for info on that WATO tool: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKTRaJ-ga82boqcsi=jJhFPUwFUYhAPT90

[@AnthonyMorgan-m9p]

@@AncestryAimee , thank you so much, this is all super-helpful and -exciting. I always knew that orphaned clusters contained Gold but I had no way to mine them. This could be a game-changer. Didn't know about the WATO either, so am going to watch that right now. You're my new hero. :)

[@mmg8823]

I am very happy to have this tool. These DNA results can be used to identify biological parents and grandparents. It helps greatly to have this new information.

[@AncestryAimee]

Glad it is helping you!!

[@tomask1436]

Isn't it a privacy issue? Why someone else should be able to identify my biological parents and grandparents?

[@mmg8823]

@@tomask1436 Yes, there is a privacy issue. People have taken secrets to their graves, such as a child having a surprise father. People like me can dig up that secret. I once identified a surprise father even though the baby, his bio-mother, his bio-father, and the man who raised that baby had all been dead for years. All it takes is a knack for crunching numbers, an ability to use logic, some patience, and sufficient data. Back to the privacy issue . . . I believe that the need to know biological medical history is more important because it can literally be the difference between life and death. I am speaking from personal experience here. Knowing my biological medical history saved my life. I believe that everyone should have that opportunity. Biological family history changes the rules as to which screening tests are necessary when. If people don’t know that, they will be dying when they don’t have to. As fond as I am of privacy, I do believe that life and death are more important. Keep in mind that no one has full access to your DNA results unless you give it to them. But, depending on the results, I could tell whether or not you are someone’s surprise half brother. That happens all the time.

[@mmg8823]

@@tomask1436 People need to know their biological medical history. It can literally be the difference between life and death. I speak from personal experience.

[@Bigfoots777]

@@tomask1436 yes in other words you don't need a paternity test exactly ? It takes two to tango so to speak , guess you just don't do a test at all and maybe hire private firm so you make sure you want to get involved , Maybe your just talking about genealogy line in general , I ddon't know

[@OpinionatedChicken59]

Enhanced shared matches is worth it alone, I've learned so much from this tool already it's immensely useful.

[@AncestryAimee]

I agree that it is very helpful! Glad it’s assisting your research!

[@949sherry9]

Love this :-)