bigpigeon.us webpage Home > Resources > Search Engines, updated by RAC 15 Feb 2020.
Use and comparison of web search engines such as ancestry.com.
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Here are four search engines for accessing on-line genealogical data:
  • Ancestry.com, a subscription service, is ranked #1 in this article. I hope my Ancestry.com Use webpage listed in Part 1 above will help you use ancestry.com more efficiently.
  • MyHeritage.com is a fairly-new subscription service. I found it helpful in researching 19th century family members in Denmark.
  • FamilySearch.Org is sponsored by the LDS church and is free.
  • Google.Com - Unlike the above three, google is a general-purpose search engine.
ancestry.com and familysearch.org:
  • Ancestry.com is a subscription service. Annual membership is fairly expensive. However, you can use ancestry.com for free at most libraries.
  • Familysearch.org is provided free of charge by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
  • Both of these search sites allow you to simultaneously search a large number of databases. These databases include United States census records through 1940, the Social Security Death Index, and much more.
  • To do a basic ancestry.com search, log in if necessary, click on Search in the main menu and then click on All Selections under Search, fill in the name fields and other relevant fields, and click on the Search button. 
  • To use familysearch.org, click on Search in the main menu, fill in the name fields and other relevant fields, and click on the Search button.
I know of three advantages in searching via ancestry.com:
  • One can restrict the search to a particular county, and within that county to a town or township.
  • Ancestry.com generally searches a larger number of databases than familysearch.org.
  • Ancestry.com optionally allows searching a large number of user-submitted family trees.
With familysearch.org, two advantages come to mind:
  • familysearch.org is free.
  • familysearch.org accesses more data for certain countries such as Denmark.
If you want to see the databases accessed by ancestry.com and familysearch.org:
  • In ancestry.com, click on Search in the main menu and then click on Card Catalog under Search. As of 20 Mar ’17, there are 32,851 databases.
  • In familysearch.org, click on Search in the main menu and then click on Browse All published collections in the search screen. As of 20 Mar ’17, there are 2204 databases.
I assume you have previous experience using Google to search for material of interest in other websites. Here are a few Google features you may not know about:
  • Put a multi-word search string inside quotation marks. For instance, to search for John Drebis, a friend of my great-grandfather, enter “john drebis” in the Google search box.
  • One can use multiple search strings. For instance, to search for the Grange Cemetery near my birthplace, enter “grange cemetery” “boomer township”.
  • One can restrict a Google search to one website. For instance, to search for references to the Grange Cemetery in the on-line version of the Council Bluffs Nonpareil, enter “grange cemetery:nonpareilonline.com”.
For evaluations of other genealogical sites of potential interest to you: