People Pay For Heritage Understanding the demographics and behavior of a category is essential for publishers and marketers to better reach and serve their target audiences. The
Genealogy category represents a potentially attractive vehicle through which marketers can reach deeply involved Internet users within important segments, including women and seniors.
According
to comScore and the Online Publishers Association, Genealogy sites fall into the broader category of Community Directories, which in total generated $26 million in paid content revenue in the third
quarter of 2002 (up 86 percent versus year-ago).
In January 2003, nearly 13 million people visited sites in the Genealogy category, particularly popular among females and older Internet users.
Interestingly, many of the sites that make up the Genealogy category are owned by a variety of well-known media companies and organizations.
Unique Visitors to the Genealogy Category (000)
January 2003 U.S. Home, Work and University Locations
| | All Locations | Home | Work | University |
| Genealogy Category | 12,950 | 9,001 | 3,835 | 597 |
| Ancestry Sites | 9,598 | 6,641 | 2,863 | 455 |
| Genealogy.com Sites | 1,741 | 1,332 | 441 | 49 |
| MyFamily Sites | 1,373 | 1,100 | 287 | 45 |
| Legacy.com | 1,220 | 754 | 483 | 47 |
| Familysearch.com | 858 | 681 | 195 | 20 |
| Kindredkonnections.com | 339 | 269 | n/a | n/a |
| Cyndislist.com | 323 | 260 | n/a | n/a |
| Mytrees.com | 279
| 211 | n/a | n/a |
| Onegreatfamily.com | 266 | 227 | n/a | n/a |
| Ancestralfindings.com | 264 | 155 | 119 | n/a |
While those over age 65 represent the smallest segment of category visitors on an
absolute basis, remarkably, this group is 51 percent more likely than the average Internet user (relative to its total share of the online population) to visit Genealogy sites. In fact, with the
exception of the Pharmacy category, Genealogy is the category with the highest percentage of Internet users over 65.
Genealogy Category by Age Group (000)
January 2003 U.S. Home, Work and
University Locations
| Age | Unique Visitors | Composition | Composition Unique Visitors* |
| 2-17 | 959 | 4.4% | 7.4% |
| 18-24 | 1,522 | 6.2% | 11.8% |
| 25-34 | 2,340 | 8.9% | 18.1% |
| 35-44 | 2,865 | 10.4% | 22.1% |
| 45-54 | 2,872 | 11.2% | 22.2% |
| 55-64 | 1,503 | 12.7% | 11.6%
|
| 65+ | 888 | 13.6% | 6.9% |
*Percent composition of unique
visitors represents the percentage of total visitors to a site or category that a specific demographic group comprises.
Females comprise the majority of visitors to Genealogy sites, accounting
for 54 percent of total category visitors. Even more striking, women account for 63 percent of all time spent at the category in January 2003.
Genealogy Category by Gender
| Unique Visitors (000) | Avg Minutes Spent Per Visitor |
| Males | 5,920 | 27.3 |
| Females | 7,030 | 38.5
|
Properties within the Ancestry network account for 45 percent of all time spent at the Genealogy category. And while FamilySearch.com is ranked fifth according to
unique visitors, the site is by far the leader based on usage intensity - with 79 minutes per visitor, more than twice the category average of 33 minutes.
Genealogy Category by Time Spent
January 2003
U.S. Home, Work and University Locations
| Total Minutes (MM) | % Composition of Minutes | Average Time Spent per Visitor |
| Genealogy Category | 431 | 100.0% | 33.3 |
| Ancestry Sites | 193 | 44.8% | 20.2 |
| MyFamily Sites | 68 | 15.8% | 49.6 |
| Familysearch.com | 68 | 15.8% | 79.2 |
| Genealogy.com Sites | 61 | 14.2% | 34.9 |
| Legacy.com | 10 | 2.3% | 7.9 |
| Gencircles.com | 8 | 1.9% | 53.0 |
| Kindredkonnections.com | 6 | 1.4% | 18.6 |
| Ellisislandrecords.org | 3 | 0.7% | 14.2 |
Source: comScore Media Metrix.