Ancestry’s DNA updates
Apparently The Legal Genealogist is a risk-taking light-haired morning person who was below average in birth weight and didn’t get all four wisdom teeth.
Um… no.
Although with the grey creeping in my hair isn’t quite as dark as it used to be, my financial advisor can confirm that the term “risk averse” is part of my profile, a birth weight over eight pounds isn’t average (except in my family!), my dental surgeon will tell you he did remove four wisdom teeth, and the only time I’m up to see the sunrise is when I haven’t been to bed yet.
But hey… these are trait reports I’m not paying extra for, so what the heck.
Yep, there are some changes at Ancestry DNA these days — some tweaks to the admixture (geoethnicity) percentages, the addition of traits to DNA reports for Ancestry subscribers, and a shift of features from free to paid being the big ones.
Free to paid features
Let’s start with the pocketbook issues. Ancestry has now divided DNA customers into three groups: those who pay for a test and nothing more; those who pay for a test and then pay extra for specific DNA-related features; and those Ancestry subscribers who also have paid for a DNA test.
The effect of this change is to move some previously-free features to a paid plan. Those who don’t shell out will still get to see their admixture estimates (those percentages) and their match lists, but they won’t be able to see which matches and what parts of those admixture percentages are maternal versus paternal. Those plus traits and the admixture chromosome painter are all part of a new AncestryDNA Plus subscription plan that will cost $29.99 for six months — $59.98 a year.1
Ancestry data plan subscribers get those features as part of their subscriptions, which is how I now can see the traits reports — previously an add-on item that I personally wasn’t willing to pay for. And of course the big feature that subscribers get that even AncestryDNA Plus subscribers don’t is access to the family trees of DNA matches.
None of this is really a surprise. The growth in numbers of testers that drove profits in recent years has greatly slowed,2 and somebody has to pay the bills. Keeping massive databases up and running is an expensive matter, and the ongoing expense isn’t covered by a one-time-buy-a-kit fee.
That’s not an endorsement of the subscription fee, by the way. Just a recognition that there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
Those traits
The one thing subscribers are getting now that we were asked to pay extra for before are the traits reports. These cover everything from alcohol flush (least to most likely that face will flush) to wisdom teeth (didn’t develop all four to developed all four) — and subscribers are told whether each trait was influenced more by the maternal or paternal side or equally influenced by both.
It’s fun, I guess. Some elements are accurate for me (nope, no freckles and yeah, straight hair, and ohhellyeah I do drink caffeinated drinks, you betcha), but I didn’t pay extra for it when it was offered as a pay feature and I’m not likely to do more than giggle at it now.
And those percentages…
Most testers also got a mild tweak to their admixture reports as well: those estimates stated as percentages that suggest how much Irish ancestry we might have or how much Nigerian.
My numbers only changed a little. My estimated ancestry from England & Northwestern Europe went down to 30% from 34% while my Germanic Europe went from 24% to 27% and Norway from 1% to 2%. All other regions (Sweden & Denmark, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) remained the same. My sister’s much more interesting admixture saw a drop of 6% in Scotland, from 25% to 19%, an increase in England & Northwestern Europe from 10% to 13%, an increase in Norway from 9% to 11% and an increase in Wales from 6% to 7%. Her other regions (Sweden & Denmark, Germanic Europe, Ireland, Baltics, Benin & Togo, and Eastern Europe & Russia) stayed the same.
For my maternal uncle, the biggest shifts were taking 10% from what had been Scotland (43% down to 33% now) and adding that in dribs and drabs to England & Northwestern Europe (up from 46% to 50%), Norway (up from 3% to 6%), Sweden & Denmark (up from 4% to 5%), Wales (up from 3% to 4%) and giving him a whole 1% Ireland, which hadn’t been reported last time. For my maternal aunt, she ended up with a bit less English and Welsh and a bit more Irish, Swedish and Danish.
Nothing earth-shattering here, just refinements. And still, as always, extremely reliable at the continental level — and … well … not so much once you start breaking it down into countries. Keep in mind in every case the percentage given is a range — my Germanic Europe, for example, says in the fine print: “Your ethnicity estimate is 27%, but it can range from 21—45%.” And my 5% Irish? “Your ethnicity estimate is 5%, but it can range from 0—12%.”
So… traits and tweaks and a paywall.
And I’m not, never was, and never will be a morning person.
Cite/link to this post: Judy G. Russell, “Tweaks, traits and a paywall,” The Legal Genealogist (https://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog : posted 1 Oct 2023).
SOURCES
- For a detailed analysis of the features included in this Plus subscription, see Roberta Estes, “Ancestry Updates Ethnicity, Introduces New Features & Pushes Some Behind Paywall,” DNAeXplained, posted 27 Sep 2023 (https://dna-explained.com/ : accessed 1 Oct 2023). ↩
- See generally the charts by Leah Larkin at The DNA Geek. The most recent was posted in 2022, reflecting bigger numbers but slower increases in the numbers. ↩
Have to admit, the Traits results are pretty :::ahem::: entertaining. Who knew I was secretly blonde, sporting a unibrow?
I actually used to be a morning person, until that certain female change of life thing. Then suddenly, boom!, I want to be up until 3:00 in the morning. Psychologically I still think of myself as a morning person, but physically it’s long gone.
I’m not paying for the extras with Ancestry, though, so I won’t be able to find out how they define me.
Let’s not forget that other added revenue stream………DNA for dogs!
I’m not affected, but I know some beginners who could have done with knowing which side of their family a match is on. I will be showing them the “old school” method we had to use up to a couple of years ago of doing this from Shared Matches.
I don’t understand the ethnicity changes. How can my ethnicity map have a ring around Devon and Cornwall when they don’t have a panel for that area? Otherwise they would realize that my ancestors they call Scottish, Irish or Welsh were all Cornish. There has long been a Cornish community for me, and other Cornish descendants have been vocal, so there is no way they don’t know about this.
Meanwhile, my Polish and Silesians still don’t have a Community.
For me there is ‘nothing to pay for here’.
If only Ancestry would provide us with something useful…like a chromosome browser.
I’d be happy if they required people to post a 4 generation tree! Forget traits – that is simply not going to be accurate at any meaningful level. Anyone who follows genetic research at any level must know that genetics isn’t that straightforward. And they don’t begin to give enough background on the reliability of ethnicity estimates to make them useful for anyone. But a tree might actually lead to someone making contact with them who knows something about their family. What a concept – real knowledge. more than 90% of my 40,000+ matches have no tree online, not even a stub and do nothing at all with their Ancestry account. Most haven’t logged on in years. They are just taking up bits and bites and cluttering up the place. Sorry rant over.