23andMe, Inc. v. Ancestry.com DNA, LLC et al

Filing 1

COMPLAINT for Patent Infringement, Violations of the Lanham Act, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 17200 and 17500, and Declaratory Relief of No Trademark Infringement and Trademark Invalidity; Demand for Jury Trial against All Defendants. (Filing Fee $400.00, Receipt No. 0971-12346102) Filed by 23andMe, Inc.. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit 1, # 2 Exhibit 2, # 3 Exhibit 3, # 4 Exhibit 4, # 5 Exhibit 5, # 6 Exhibit 6, # 7 Exhibit 7, # 8 Exhibit 8, # 9 Exhibit 9, # 10 Exhibit 10, # 11 Exhibit 11, # 12 Civil Cover Sheet )(Gaede, William) (Filed on 5/11/2018) Modified on 5/11/2018 (jmlS, COURT STAFF). Modified on 5/15/2018 (gbaS, COURT STAFF).

EXHIBIT
7

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

 Blog Home

Exploring Your DNA Results Further

Posted by Linda Barnickel on December 1, 2016 in AncestryDNA

Search…

Search

This is a guest post by Linda Barnickel.
Although I had my DNA tested with Ancestry over a year
ago, I only recently discovered the wealth of information
accessible through two unobtrusive links to be found on
each individual match page.

Predicted Relationships
Choose one of your individual matches and go to that
page. Click on “What does this mean?” next to the
“Possible range” of relationship.

Links
 Ancestry
 Ancestry Knowledge
Base
 Customer Service
 Community Guidelines
 Ancestry Coupons
 Find us on Facebook
 Follow us on Twitter
 See us on YouTube

 Follow us on Pinterest

A pop-up window will appear with more information.

Notifications
Receive updates from the
Ancestry blog Learn more

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

 RSS Feed
 E-mail

Categories

This box provides me with information about how and
why AncestryDNA believes that I have a 3rd cousin
relationship with this particular individual, including an
estimated accuracy of this prediction (98%).

Select Category
SelectCategory

Scrolling down – and this is where the real value of this
pop-up window becomes clear – it details exactly what a
3rd cousin type of relationship looks like between me
and my match. It helps me know where on our pedigree
we should look for our lines to merge through a common
ancestor.

Archives
Select Month
SelectMonth

About the Ancestry
blog

But it doesn’t stop there!

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Here you will find
informational, and
sometimes fun, posts from
the folks behind the scenes
here at Ancestry. We hope
you’ll notice just how
passionate we are about
family history and about
the products we’re building
to help connect families

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

over distance and time.

Visit Ancestry

In fact, it goes on to explain to me eight different
possible variations on how my match and I might be
related, and provides a similar graphic chart (like the
2nd cousins, 2x removed chart above), to help me trace
and envision that relationship.
I’ve summarized all eight possibilities by listing the
predicted relationship, and the common ancestor,
below:
• 3rd cousins = great-great-grandparent
• 2nd cousins (2x removed) = 3x great-grandparent
• 3rd cousins (1x removed) = great-great-grandparent
• 2nd cousins (3x removed) = great-grandparent
• 1st cousins (1x removed) = 3x great-grandparent
• 4th cousins = 3x great-grandparent
• 3rd cousins (2x removed) == 4x great-grandparent
• 2nd cousins (4x removed) = great-grandparent
By looking at all of these possible variations, I can group
the results as follows:
• 2 possibilities where my match and I could link as
close as our great-grandparent
• 2 possibilities where we could link at our great-great-

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

grandparent
• 3 possibilities where we could link at our great-greatgreat-grandparent
• 1 possibility where we could link as far back as our
great-great-great-great-grandparent
This tells me that there are four different generations in
play, where we might match. It also tells me that the
most-distant linkage of a 4x great-grandparent, is also
the least likely, since this relationship is only 1 out of 8
possible variants. There is a stronger likelihood of
linking within the great- or great-great ranges, since half
of the possible results fall within these two ranges.
The information provided by the Predicted Relationship
“What Does This Mean?” button can aid my search for a
shared common ancestor in so many ways. This route
to more information should not be overlooked!

Confidence Level
The second subtle link on my individual match page is
the small info button, located at the end of the line
indicating the Confidence of the predicted match.

Click on this info button, and you’ll get a small pop-up
which will tell you how much of your DNA you share with
your match.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

The higher the number of centimorgans, and the greater
the number of segments, the closer you and your match
are related.
Again, clicking on the “What does this mean” link
provided in the black pop-up box takes you to a more
detailed explanation, using the fictional match of “Bruce
Bule” as an illustration.

Keep reading in this box, and you’ll encounter this very
helpful chart, explaining the terms AncestryDNA uses to
define the Confidence in their prediction of relationship.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

This is followed by another very helpful chart, which
gives further information about the predicted degree of
relationship based upon the number of shared
centimorgans.

The initial small black pop-up box told me that my match
JW and I shared 165 centimorgans and predicted we
were third cousins. Looking at this chart, I can see that
165 centimorgans does indeed fall squarely within the
predicted range of a 3rd cousin relationship.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

Conclusion
Throughout both the Predicted Match and the
Confidence Level screens, Ancestry also provides
additional helpful links throughout, and more information
than what can be summarized and illustrated here.
Be sure to investigate the Predicted Match and
Confidence Level links for your own matches; it may
give you the additional guidance you need to discern
your relationship and common ancestor with some of
your new-found cousins!

Linda Barnickel
Linda Barnickel is a professional
archivist and freelance writer. She is
the author of the award-winning
book,Milliken’s Bend: A Civil War
Battle in History and Memory (LSU
Press, 2013) and has written on
numerous historical, genealogical, and
archives-related subjects. Learn more
about her work at lindabarnickel.com.

50 Comments
Nathaniel Austin Gray ·
December 1, 2016 at 7:57 pm
I have been a member for well over a year and this is
one of the most informative segments I’ve read. For
those who have uploaded their Ancestry autosomal raw
DNA data to GEDmatch, you already understand one of
the terms Linda explains: centimorgans. I will admit I
was unaware that this info (though not as helpful as a

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

chromosome browser) was available by clicking on the
“i” button next to the confidence level bar.
Although I have connected with several previously
unknown cousins and worked with them by running
multiple kit analysis reports on GEDmatch.com, this
feature Linda discusses here is beneficial because not
all matches reply to inquiries! It also serves to
encourage those who haven’t used GEDmatch to
consider doing so.
Thanks again, Linda. Great job!
EJ Blom ·
December 2, 2016 at 1:33 am
Interesting blog post. I agree that there is more
information hidden behind the shared DNA cM. If
Ancestry really wants some customers to extract as
much information from their DNA hits as possible, why
won’t they consider implementing a chromosome
browser?
There are other areas that are interesting as well, for
instance X chromosomal hits that could really benefit
from some kind of additional annotation of our ancestry
trees (indicating which paths are possible given the X
chromosomal data).
Peggy Deras ·
December 2, 2016 at 1:35 pm
I want to add my voice to the chorus of those
requesting, nay demanding, a chromosome browser
from AncestryDNA. I have done this before, to no avail,
but I keep trying. Adding all of our Ancestry matches to
the correct section of the correct chromosome would be
so much better than jumping through the GEDmatch
hoops, helpful as they are. Fact is: I use Ancestry for
assembling both my family trees and many private DNA
match research trees. DNA research is relegated to
23andMe, FTDNA and GEDmatch because of
Ancestry’s choice to deny us a chromosome browser.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

susan ·
December 2, 2016 at 2:52 pm
Once again, I’ll join with the others in requesting a
chromosome browser. I keep my DNA matches on a
spreadsheet, but only those on other websites. Can you
imagine how many matches I could identify if I could
add Ancestry matches to the spreadsheets?
carolyn Dennison ·
December 2, 2016 at 4:11 pm
How do I get my DNA tested?

↪


Member Services Social Support Team ·
December 7, 2016 at 6:23 am

If you go to http://www.ancestry.com/dna, you will
be able to purchase a DNA kit. Once you receive
the kit, you will activate it online and send off your
sample.
Ronald Hamann ·
December 2, 2016 at 5:19 pm
Very informative thank you
Linda Barnickel ·
December 2, 2016 at 7:21 pm
Thanks for the compliments, Nathaniel and others. I’m
glad you found this information helpful. Carolyn or
anyone else wanting to test your DNA with Ancestry,
see their introduction here:
https://www.ancestry.com/dna/
sara danison ·
December 3, 2016 at 9:10 am
aLinda, you are so right!.I, also took some time to
explore this.. I delight in showing my adult children, and
grandchildren how this works.And a private bit of fun is
determining relationships of others. Relationships would
confound Martians.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

Renee ·
December 4, 2016 at 6:43 am
So much valuable information! Thanks so much for this
informative and helpful information!
Joyce ·
December 4, 2016 at 1:16 pm
Best post I have seen in a VERY long time—I wish
ancestry would do more of this type of informative stuff
instead of all the “fluff” blogs.
I have an older cousin I am trying to teach how to do
things in ancestry—and the only way she seems to “get
it” is if I snip and send things in email BUT not all things
can be explained that way from MY end.
She is having awful problems figuring out the right way
to copy trees and no matter HOW many times I explain
she still gets it wrong and attaches folks in wrong
ways/places and then I have to go into her tree and try
to fix whatever she has messed up.
As I warned ancestry with NEW version, older folks are
REALLY have a tough time figuring out the site—and I
have YET to find a good place to send her to so she can
learn how to use the different features. It is
FRUSTRATING that I cannot find ONE place to send
her to that explains all the various things and how to use
on the site. PLEASE do more useful BLOGS for older
folks who cannot make heads or tails of how to use the
new site.
It is difficult to teach a 78 year old lady things without
step by step instructions! Such as the ones done
above…
Joyce
Monika ·
December 4, 2016 at 1:18 pm
When checking your DNA test results take the slight

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

variations in name into account. E.g., my husband’s
German great-grandfather changed his name from
Bietsch (pronounced Bitch) to Beach for obvious
reasons. Always incorporate the original name in your
tree or you will hit a brick wall. I am excited to discover
that his DNA test results do connect us with a Bietsch
that is standing in front of the same brick wall as we are.
But it is one additional name that may help break down
the wall. I also went, in person, to archives in the Czech
Republic and obtained birth, marriage and death
records straight out of the church books of that time. I
use the spelling of these names as I found them in the
church books. Found a cousin in the DNA test results
who only uses the anglicized name (name as it was
changed when her ancestors came to America). I was
so curious about how we connect that I paid a
genealogist in the Czech Republic to fond out how we
are connected. This is how I discovered that my third
great-grandmother had a brother and that this cousin is
coming from the line of this great-grand uncle of mine.
Yet when I informed her she did not add this connection
to her tree (even though she is an active member) nor
did she accommodate for the difference in spelling in
the old country. You can take a horse to water but you
cannot make him drink!
jenny franklin ·
December 4, 2016 at 11:10 pm
very helpful post! now if they would just give us a
chromosome browser I might stop recommending to my
friends that they test elsewhere if they really want to use
DNA to research or validate their trees!
Abby Ferguson ·
December 5, 2016 at 12:29 pm
I like that it shows centimorgans, but to be honest that
doesn’t really mean much if I can’t see them. A
chromosome browser would be infinitely helpful, as

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

would the ability to compare relatives to myself and
each other. Yes there is gedmatch, but not everyone on
ancestry has transferred their results or wants to.
Laurie ·
December 5, 2016 at 2:03 pm
(Besides a chromosome browser)
In addition to the star and dot, more indicators to place
matches in certain groups, e.g. maternal/paternal, family
groups, etc…
Thank you for the informative, easy to understand, and
useful article!
Sarah Christiansen ·
December 5, 2016 at 9:15 pm
It would really help to know the length of the longest
segment. 81 cM in 9 segments may not be 9 segments
of 9 cM, in fact it may be 3 of 20, 5 of 4 and one of 5.
Frankly when the experts say ignore anything under 7
why go so low?
Judi ·
December 6, 2016 at 6:04 am
Interesting and helpful info BUT you can’t contact any of
those possible relatives unless they are a CURRENT
Ancestry member! Very disappointing!
Cheryl Kotecki ·
December 7, 2016 at 8:12 am
We love the smooth integration of pedigrees/family trees
and DNA matching we get at Ancestry, and understand
that, unlike other websites, Ancestry provides a high
standard of customer service. We also understand that
adding a chromosome browser could place a burden on
customer service. However, not providing it is a definite
weakness in Ancestry’s DNA services and makes us
hesitate to recommend it to new customers who have
serious genealogical questions to address. In fact, it is
only with this warning that breaking down brick walls will

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

not happen with Ancestry’s cousin matching that we
mention it among the other available commercial
services. It might help today’s members who are more
sophisticated users of technology if the browser were
available (as the features above are) if the Ancestry
DNA users-help were more easily accessed than it is
currently. I find that having to log in to the support center
separately from the main website, and the structure of
the support center makes it very challenging to use, and
I am a technologically sophisticated user. Make it easier
for us to search for answers to common questions, and
you might find the burden on your customer support
staff reduced to the point where your user base was
happier and more self-supporting.
JeanHollars ·
December 7, 2016 at 9:55 am
What does a confidence level of “emerging” mean? And
where has my DNA results page gone? I haven’t been
able to access it for over a week.
Kathy ·
December 8, 2016 at 6:57 am
considering purchasing a kit as a Christmas gift. Will
that person then need to buy a subscription to
ancestry.com to view information?

↪


Member Services Social Support Team ·
December 9, 2016 at 3:53 am

A subscription is not necessary to do the DNA test.
However, while there is no obligation to purchase a
subscription with the AncestryDNA service, an
Ancestry membership can enhance their
experience by taking advantage of the additional
benefits that the combined service offers together.
Please see the article below for more information.
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

-with-an-Ancestry-Subscription-US1460090085520-3160
MikeSlater ·
December 8, 2016 at 12:13 pm
You say that you test all 23 pairs of chromosomes in the
DNA test. This will include the sex-chromosomes. Will
the test I just sent in be able to tell me if the DNA of my
5th cousin is descended from our “on-paper” common
male ancestor?

↪


Member Services Social Support Team ·
December 9, 2016 at 3:54 am

When you say “on paper” do you mean that this
male ancestor has done the DNA test also? If so,
they will be matched up.
Fran ·
December 9, 2016 at 12:52 pm
My sister had her DNA tested through ancestry and was
surprised not to find any eastern European or Spanish
ancestry in her results as we have always believed our
father’s father was full blooded Spanish and our father’s
mother was full blooded Russian. She then asked me to
be tested and she also submitted a new test for herself.
My results came back English (as that is what our
mother is) along with Spanish and Eastern European.
Her results came back the same as before, void of any
Spanish or Eastern European ancestry. Could there be
any possible explanation other than that we have
different fathers?

↪


Member Services Social Support Team ·
December 12, 2016 at 3:39 am

@Fran: The DNA we inherit from each parent is
completely random, so unless you’re an identical
twin, your DNA profile won’t be exactly the same

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

as a sibling’s. Each sibling could have picked up
genetic information from different ancestors in the
gene pool in the distant past. This would explain
why one sibling could have more of one ethnicity
than the other. Please see this article that explains
more: http://ancstry.me/29WwEQO. As Linda
advised, you would want to look at how closely you
match each other instead and how many
centimorgans you share. We have a number of
helpful articles available from the DNA results
page. These can be accessed by clicking on the
Question Mark Icon located in the top right of either
of your results pages. We hope this helps.
MikeSlater ·
December 9, 2016 at 3:48 pm
The common ancestor is from the 1700s. The 2
descendants are 6th cousins. I’m hoping to confirm this
common ancestry with the 2 DNA tests of the 2 cousins
hoping that it will confirm their common Y-chromosome.
And make it clear that those former slaves on one side
are actually blood-relatives, not just named the same
because of their ownership.
Linda Barnickel ·
December 11, 2016 at 1:08 pm
Fran – Rather than concentrating on your “deep
ancestry” (ethnic estimates), compare the amount of
shared DNA between you and your sister, and the
“predicted relationship.” These will provide far more
definitive answers about your shared paternity, than the
ethnic makeup. I am not a DNA expert, but I do know
that the ethnic mix concerns ancestry from far back in
time, even prior to written records; whereas the
relationship assessment and shared quantity of DNA (as
described above in this post) concerns the more recent
past. See the chart above, for qty. of shared
centimorgans, to see the dramatic difference between

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

full siblings and half siblings.
Marci ·
December 11, 2016 at 11:38 pm
Another person begging for a chromosome browser.
The article was interesting but failed to explain that
without much needed tools, Ancestry DNA by itself is
useless for providing proofs if you do think you’ve
broken down a brick wall. The fact that 5 other people
copied an inaccurate tree does NOT prove you are
related to them or some common ancestor. Customers
need to understand this, because now all the Ancestry
DNA data is doing is perpetuating more inaccurate
information.
My suggestion. Hide the chromosome data under the
little ‘i’ icon – EXAMPLE: 22 cMs on CH 4 85042760 –
110341949 Only people who know what they are doing
would even know what it meant or that it was there, and
other users would never see the information and would
not call customer service about it.
Pat ·
December 12, 2016 at 10:01 am
To the Member Services Social Support Team: Can you
answer the question that so many of us have as to why
Ancestry doesn’t have a chromosome browser ? Would
that be something we could look forward to? It would be
wonderful! Thank you!
Nathaniel Gray ·
December 15, 2016 at 12:52 pm
On December 1, I posted the first comment in this
thread. I have checked back from time to time until
today (Dec. 15) when I decided to post another
comment related to at least 6 or 7 different members
who have asked “Member Services Support Team
(MSST)” to address the issue of a chromosome browser
– if and when Ancestry will ever offer that very useful

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

tool. Has anyone noticed how the MSST avoided
answering these comments and questions and, in most
cases the four (yes, that’s correct – only four) responses
to other questions by the MSST were quite superficial?
Here is a great comment made by Marci on Dec. 11:
“My suggestion. Hide the chromosome data under the
little ‘i’ icon – EXAMPLE: 22 cMs on CH 4 85042760 –
110341949 Only people who know what they are doing
would even know what it meant or that it was there, and
other users would never see the information and would
not call customer service about it.” Since it is obvious no
answer will be given related to members asking if and
when Ancestry will provide a chr. browser like FTDNA
has, let us address another issue that perhaps the
MSST can answer. My ethnic background ESTIMATES
(yes, I know they are estimates) based on my Ancestry
DNA test show 67% Europe West; 31% G.B. and
Ireland. My FTDNA ethnic background estimates show
54% British Isles; 28% W&C Europe; 12% Scandanavia.
JUST THE OPPOSITE if you “step back and look at it”!
I’ve read several articles and blogs criticizing Ancestry
for putting too much weight in their mainland Europe
estimates and not enough in their British Isles (G.B.,
Ireland) estimates. Can the MSST please provide a link
to an article which might shed a more positive review
(third party) of Ancestry’s results? Thanks to everyone
who has commented in this thread – great discussion.
Monika ·
December 17, 2016 at 12:05 am
In case this is helpful to anyone who checks his/her
“Ancestry/DNA Results”. ACOM tries to be helpful and,
as you press on a possible match, and it lists the
matches surnames, ACOM will write a little blurb saying
“names your trees have in common – Smith”. As I have
looked through these DNA results I find names that are
in MY tree as well as in the “match’s tree” but that are
not picked up by ACOM because of a slight
https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

discrepancy. E.g., in the old German/Austrian birth
records you will find that when a female was born an “in”
was added to hear surname. So, if her father’s surname
was e.g. GLASER the daughter’s surname was
GLASERIN. That was to indicate the sex of the
newborn. I have found several cousins by going through
their entire list of names and found comnmon names
that were not caught by ACOM because of that slight
discrepancy. E.g., I have the male ancestor by, let’s say
GLASER and she has GLASERIN in her tree but ACOM
would not flag this as a “name in common”. So look
carefully through all the names that are listed even if
ACOM claims that you do not have a name in common
in your trees.
Jude ·
December 18, 2016 at 12:32 pm
I think Ancestry DNA is still fairly useless. So is
GEDMatch, but at least it’s free. I REALLY, REALLY,
REALLY wish there was a way to make Ancestry better
overall, but especially to make the DNA portion of the
results more useful. No, I take that back–a way to make
all of Ancestry better. Listen to your customers, stick all
of the complainers in a group so we can help you make
this a decent product, worth spending so darned much
money on. A chromosome browser is just the start.
Helping people weed the garbage out of their trees
would be another useful innovation. Improving the
quality of indexing. But especially making the search
function better. Yuck. Ancestry. Yuck.
Tammy Burton ·
December 18, 2016 at 1:15 pm
If you can click more than one: i.e. hints and new, that
would save time and frustration than have to keep
scrolling through all the ones you’ve already screened.
Gary Huffman ·
December 21, 2016 at 9:16 am

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

Last night half of my DNA matches were deleted form
my tree without warning. Old trees contain useful
information to find more cousins. Why were they
deleted? You used to give warning as to upcoming
changes. That was useful. Why did ancestry.com stop?
I find the changes to cause endless frustration. I just get
used to something then it is gone. Famous people finder
was interesting but it is gone just like like half of my
DNA matches.
Linda Barnickel ·
December 21, 2016 at 6:37 pm
Monika – Thank you so much for pointing out this
information about masculine/feminine variants of
surnames! I had never thought about that. I have a
similar situation with Polish ancestry – masculine ends
in “i” and feminine in “a”. Great point! I had never
considered how this might impact my searches or
matches with others’ trees.
Monika ·
December 25, 2016 at 2:53 pm
Linda, Yes, this “i” and “a” issue also shows up in my
Czech ancestry. Merry Christmas!
Debo Jamerican ·
December 26, 2016 at 6:07 am
I would like to encourage people that have Ancestry
DNA profiles to use all the resources that profile has
and reply to messages you get from your matches. Also
keep track of the Shared matches it helps you find the
line between you and your match.
The Biggest issue i have is people keeping on ancestry
to finish the collaboration, and the DNA website server
does not update enough to show your shared people
and hints.
Also Ancestry has updated the regular profiles outside
of the DNA server to show if you have a DNA match

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

with another persons profile, it works only a few times
but keep your eye out for that.
i have to new sites i found that can help with
genealogy!!
Fist site Geneosity.com
and thefamilynexus.com they have good resources.
Merry Christmas Everyone and a happy New Year!
Janet ·
December 26, 2016 at 8:43 pm
AncestryDNA has addressed their stance on a
chromosome browser. Here are the key points. You can
read the article in its entirety in the help section on
AncestryDNA.
“What are chromosome browsers and what are their
limitations?
“Chromosome browsers” are software packages that let
you visualize where on the genome two or more people
share DNA. There are some important limitations to
consider when using chromosome browsers to search
for evidence at the DNA segment level to validate lines
in your family tree: you are limited to only the DNA
segments you share with your matches, and shared
DNA is not always an indication that you are
genealogically related to someone.
Limitation 1: You can only study your DNA matches
Looking at your DNA matches alone can limit you when
you’re looking for evidence that you are a descendant of
a particular ancestor.
If you can only analyze the DNA of your matches, you’ll
be missing out on discovering distant cousins who don’t
share DNA with you but who could still provide evidence
for whether you’re descended from a particular
ancestor. ….it’s quite common for distant relatives
(beyond fourth cousins) to not share DNA at all (i.e.,
around 30 percent of the time 4th cousins will not be a
DNA match, and around 70 percent of the time 5th
https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

cousins will not).
Limitation 2: Having the same segment of DNA doesn’t
always indicate that you share an ancestor
At some point, the more people you match on a
particular segment, the less likely it is that you and a
DNA match are descendants of a common ancestor,
and the more likely it is you’re identical by state. So,
using a chromosome browser to find multiple people
who match you on the same segment—even if you have
the same ancestor in your trees—is not definitive
evidence that you have a common ancestor.”
Dennis Ray Sr ·
December 29, 2016 at 2:03 pm
Love your sight and want to know more about your
company and how I join.
Afie McRae ·
January 1, 2017 at 5:15 pm
I just had my DNA test done and was trying to figure out
the 4th cousins match. However, I was adopted and my
tree on family search has nothing to do with my DNA. Is
there a way to unlink my tree to my DNA to get a more
accurate reading on my related cousins?
Chris Fricke ·
January 4, 2017 at 4:57 pm
I recently sent in my DNA kit. Once the testing has been
completed what happens to my sample? Is it destroyed?
Margaret Scandrett ·
January 5, 2017 at 12:19 am
I had my dna done and I cant find what kind of test it
was and I also need the number. It was done in 2016.
Timothy russell. king ·
January 8, 2017 at 5:37 pm
Make sure not dating my cousins
Rena Ransom ·
January 9, 2017 at 5:55 pm
https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

Do we have a new feature for ancestry dna members
which allows us to click on a user name in the public
and private family tree section and see if you share
dna? I am occasionally able to do this
Martha ·
January 10, 2017 at 8:43 am
I see a lot of people who like this gedmatch browser for
Chromosomes on Ancestry. I must be missing
something since I see know value at all on gedmatch.
What good is a chromosome number if you don’t know
which surname the person matches you with?
Diane ·
January 10, 2017 at 11:18 am
Love ancestry DNA, but one tool severely lacking is the
chromosome browser. Please consider adding this
valuable tool. Being able to use GEDmatch to obtain
this tool is a help, but not everyone is willing to upload
their ancestry DNA to that site. A chromosome browser
in the ancestry program would be greatly appreciated
and useful!!! Also, it would be nice if we could sort our
matches into folders. I “star” and make notes on
matches I want to keep track of, but I still have to go
through each of them to determine what I am looking
for. If you had some type of folder system, the matches
could be moved into folders labeled however a person
wanted to keep things organized. All matches would be
under one specific heading, instead of all lumped
together with every other match you have. Just a
thought.
Monika ·
January 10, 2017 at 11:51 am
@Diane – Ability to create folders would be a great idea.
I also would like to be able to “dump” many of the
useless non-matches. If I cannot delete these, having a
folder would help me do that because I can call this
https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

folder “deleted”.
Monika ·
January 10, 2017 at 2:17 pm
I just had one very negative and one VERY positive
experience calling customer service regarding my
Ancestry DNA results. I administer both, my DNA test
results and my husband’s DNA test results. This
morning my DNA test results page was blank but I was
able to access my husband’s DNA test results, both on
my lap top and my desk top (two totally different
computers with different browsers). This was the case
for a period of about six hours (I was able to access
both these pages until midnight last night). So I decided
to call Customer Service. The first person I talked to
immediately said “It has to be your browser.” (That’s the
lazy answer that some ACOM customer service
representatives use as a Mantra.) Oh, yeah, my
browsers (two different browsers on two different
computers) will not let me see MY DNA page results but
will let me see my husband’s DNA test results. Do I
have “stupid” written on my forehead??? So I hung up
and called again. This time I had the good fortune of
having an intelligent and friendly customer service
representative who stated that “Oh, yes, it will not load
on my computer either! Let me try something!” and
“whoops” my page was back and visible on both my
laptop and my main computer. This “It’s your browser”
mantra is really getting old! Thank goodness for the few
good customer service representatives at ACOM and
my having had the luck to come across one of them
today!
Thomas Gull ·
January 11, 2017 at 1:04 pm
Re the post from Ancestry echoed by Janet 12/26 at
8:43 pm: these are what I consider smoke and mirrors
meant to convince people who haven’t used

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

chromosome browsers that Ancestry is reasonable in
not providing one. Limitation 1: “Looking at your DNA
matches alone can limit you when you’re looking for
evidence that you are a descendant of a particular
ancestor.” So what? It’s a chromosome browser, not a
“find all possible evidence and analyze it browser”. Just
because one tool doesn’t fit all needs doesn’t mean the
tool is by definition useless! DNA analysis can provide
insights that no study of the paper trail can provide. To
skip it because it’s not all-encompassing is a selfservicing argument, not a logical one. Limitation 2: “So,
using a chromosome browser to find multiple people
who match you on the same segment—even if you have
the same ancestor in your trees—is not definitive
evidence that you have a common ancestor.” Huh? It’s
about probability. So if (a) the matching segments are
long enough to be IBD instead of IBS (the numbers are
well-documented) AND (b) you triangulate in on an
common ancestor by having a group of people who
match each other in one or more segments at IBD
levels, you are looking at close to definitive evidence of
the common ancestry. If you match two people on the
“same segment” but they don’t match each other, then
one is paternal and one maternal for you and all three
won’t match each other – that’s an exception. But if the
segment lengths are high enough and you triangulate
with DNA only, you have that common ancestor. If you
are able to see the match in your pedigrees, then you
can name the ancestor (or ancestral couple). I have
helped multiple people confirm ancestry solely from a
DNA match that pointed to triangulated matches with a
known ancestor. This posting from Ancestry is
purposely misleading, in my opinion. It’s an attempt to
make the chromosome browser seem like a fringe thing
in DNA genealogy research, where it’s really central to
the whole activity.
Thomas Gull ·
January 11, 2017 at 1:26 pm
https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

After a bit more thought, three points to make:
1. As suggested before, a chromosome browser is IMO
the single most useful and basic tool we can use for
genetic genealogy. Without it, Ancestry is mostly just
bringing other people to our attention, and many of
those people won’t reply to any inquiries no matter how
politely worded. This makes Ancestry DNA a noticeably
inferior product for people who actually want to use DNA
evidence in the most obvious way.
2. Those of us who do use GEDmatch or FTDNA
browsers are able to actually build viable DNA Circles
that Ancestry would be incapable of highlighting – by
doing deeper research into both the DNA matching and
pedigree matching. Once we identify these circles, we
have no way of passing the information along to
Ancestry even though it would clearly help their
scientists figure out how to find more circles more
effectively.
3. Instead, we get these bizarre New Ancestor
Discoveries. I have been unable to find anything useful
from a single one of those to date because (a) the
pedigrees aren’t deep enough to find paper matches
and (b) I don’t know where to look because I don’t know
where the DNA actually overlaps to make use of
matches found earlier.
4. I agree with an earlier post about needing folders or
some other way of organizing the Hinted matches
beyond the two available sorts (date and some blended
measure of projected cousinship and Extremely High to
Moderate matches). We shouldn’t each have to come
up with some scheme of organizing hinted matches (I’m
up to 288 at the moment). Folders would be a good
idea. Organizing by lineage from a tree’s home person
or selected person might be another. That is, put all the
matches from a given line together. As it is, I’m taking
screenshots of the matches now to put into an Excel

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]

Exploring Your DNA Results Further – Ancestry Blog

spreadsheet, one per sheet. That way, I’ll at least be
able to sort by the male or female match in the pedigree
to group people together. There could be a lot of
features added to the UI to help when you start to get a
number of matches and need to work across them for
patterns.
But first and foremost, I’d be happy if 100% of the effort
went into providing a competent chromosome browser
now, ignoring everything else. The value for the money
is in the segment data. I love, for example, that FTDNA
will let you download all the matching segment info from
its chromosome browser so you can sort by segments
within chromosome and easily find people who cluster
together in a real sense. If they would just combine that
with the GEDmatch one-to-one comparison to take the
place of their Matrix feature, all of us could do the basic
research in one place.

Comments are closed.

https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2016/12/01/exploring-your-dna-results-further/[5/9/2018 11:06:07 AM]