@MyHeritage Has Done It Again
MyHeritage has made some additions to the DNA side of their business that has the genealogy community talking. A couple of weeks ago I told you about how they’d improved their matching algorithms but they haven’t stopped there.
Now, whether you’ve tested with MyHeritage or whether you’ve transferred your raw data from, Ancestry, Family Tree DNA or 23andMe you can now contact your matches without having a MyHeritage subscription. So messages to your matches are FREE to view and FREE to respond to.
Making contact is easy. All you have to do is click the contact button. The message is handled through MyHeritage’s message system so your personal email is not revealed. There still is no guarantee that your match will answer but now you don’t have to spend money to find that out. I like the fact that with MyHeritage it doesn’t seem to be all about the money.
(photo from the MyHeritage blog)
The other addition that MyHeritage DNA has made is their beta version of ethnicities from around the world. This is based on the data they receive from their users. Not all countries have data but as the information is gathered I’m sure that will change.
Here’s what Canada’s breakdown looks like and I have revealed what my own DNA looks like compared to their information.
Nothing too surprising here for Canada and mine is similar but with some different percentages. My percentages are different than what is shown on other sites. For instance, at Ancestry, I show 40% English, 35% European West, 11% Iberian 7% Scandinavian, 5% Irish and 2% Europe South. But each company has their own data set to compare with.
What I found interesting is that when I click on each of my percentages the map below shows all the countries where their data shows that DNA is found.
So if you haven’t tested at MyHeritage or if you have raw data from another site you may want to consider transferring your raw data over. With their improved matching system, FREE contact to your matches and new ethnicities map you have another way to connect with cousins. After all, isn’t that what we are all trying to do? I know I’m always looking for cousins.
