AncestryDNA Breaks Holiday Sales Record for Black Friday to Cyber Monday; More Than Triples Kits Sold Versus 2016

LEHI, Utah and SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 28, 2017 -- Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, today announced record sales for AncestryDNA kits during the four day Black Friday to Cyber Monday holiday weekend. The company more than tripled the number of kits sold during the same period in 2016, its prior record sales period. In the coming weeks, millions of people around the world will open their gifts and receive the best consumer DNA experience available. AncestryDNA is:

• “The Best DNA Testing Service,” according to review site, The Wirecutter
• The best selling consumer DNA product in the world, providing the most opportunities for customers to make new discoveries and connect with new family
• The most comprehensive look at a person’s ethinc background, with 5x the number of ethnic regions of the nearest competing product
• The only service where more than 10 million new family connections are made every day
• The only DNA experience that enables customers to connect to the world’s largest collection of historical documents and family trees, providing an even greater chance to learn about one’s family history and stories  

“We are relentlessly focused on creating products and experiences that exceed the expectations of every Ancestry customer. We have doubled down on providing a richer, more detailed ethinicity experience and consumers are clearly responding,” said Howard Hochhauser, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry. “DNA testing is no longer a niche interest, it’s a mass consumer market, with millions of people wanting to experience the emotionally powerful, life-affirming discoveries that can come from simply spitting in a tube. Our customer’s own stories, and how they have taken what they’ve learned and changed how they approach the future, are the strongest testaments to the positive impact we deliver.”

The company also announced that, for the first time in its history, the total number of AncestryDNA kits sold in single year has exceeded the total number of subscribers to the company’s family history services. In October, the total number of customer samples in Ancestry’s DNA database, the world’s largest consumer DNA database, exceeded six million.

Contiuing sales strength, and Ancestry’s second record-breaking holiday sales period in a row, further solidify the company’s leadership in the consumer genomic market. More importantly for both existing and new AncestryDNA customers, the more people in the DNA database, the better the potential results for everyone. As more people take their test, Ancestry is able to continue to refine its ethinicty estimates, provide new ethnic regions, and expand the number of potential familial matches for customers.

“We are excited to welcome so many new customers to the Ancestry family,” said Hochhauser. “2018 will bring a regular drumbeat of new experiences and enhancements across both DNA and Family History, as we continue to improve how we help you discover more about your past and inspire your future.”

About Ancestry

Ancestry, the global leader in family history and consumer genomics, harnesses the information found in family trees, historical records, and DNA to help people gain a new level of understanding about their lives. Ancestry has more than 2.7 million paying subscribers across its core Ancestry websites and more than 6 million people in the AncestryDNA network. Since 1996, more than 10 billion records have been added to Ancestry's databases, and users have created more than 90 million family trees on the Ancestry flagship site and its affiliated international websites. Ancestry offers a suite of family history products and services including AncestryDNA, Archives, AncestryProGenealogists, Newspapers.com and Fold3. AncestryDNA is owned and operated by Ancestry.com DNA, LLC, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com, LLC.

Media contact:

Brandon Borrman
415.795.6786
[email protected]