MyHeritage, the well known genealogy website, has acquired BackupMyTree, a digital storage service. What does this merger mean for genealogists who use one, or both, of these services? As far as I can tell, there is nothing to worry about, and much to be gained, for genealogists.
MyHeritage is a genealogy website that you can use for free. You can start working on your family tree, and placing it online, immediately. If you want access to more than the basic services that the website provides, then you have to become a member, (which does cost something).
Not too long ago, MyHeritage offered a payment plan, of sorts, that is completely unique. Usually, when a genealogy website requires a membership fee, it intends the fee to be paid for by each, individual, member.
MyHeritage, however, found a way to link payment to the social network that genealogists who use MyHeritage can enjoy. They now allow families, who all use the service, to add to “Our Family Goal”. Basically, this is a way to pool together funds that can be used to pay for the cost of membership for an individual from a particular family.
So, for example, if your aunt has been enjoying using the members only services on MyHeritage, but lost her job and cannot pay for the membership anymore, your family can help with that. Each person in your family who is using MyHeritage can pitch in whatever they can afford towards your aunt’s membership fees. Together, everyone can help, without having one person pay for the entire cost of membership. No other genealogy websites offer this type of payment plan.
Recently, MyHeritage acquired BackupMyTree. The service provided by BackupMyTree basically involved storage. A genealogist who used their service could save a digital copy of all the documents, research notes, family photographs, and other genealogy research that he or she has been working on.
It gets saved on a server that is located outside of the home of the genealogist. This provides a certain amount of safety. For example, if a fire in your home destroys all of your genealogy research and papers, there would still be copies of it saved that are not located in your home.
MyHeritage sees the value in having a way for genealogists to store a back up of their family tree. They see the addition of BackupMyTree as the next step in security for the people who use MyHeritage. In other words, BackupMyTree is a service that is going to be maintained, not destroyed. The intent of MyHeritage is to keep the BackupMyTree service “free of charge” for people to use.
Image by Lexinatrix on Flickr