9/1/2008
By Diane Haddad
Watch for these hidden paths that may lead you from a free genealogy Web site to a fee-based one.
They don't call it the Web for nothing. You
start on a free genealogy site someone recommended, and a dozen or so
clicks later — just when you think you've found answers to your burning
ancestral questions — a window pops up telling you to fork over a fee
if you want to see any records.
It's not hard to get lost in the
maze of the Internet. Web-savvy marketers know you're keen on getting
free stuff and use a myriad of means to draw you to pay sites, hoping
you'll find enough value there to type in your credit card number. And
plenty of people gladly pay for subscription sites such as Ancestry.com
<Ancestry.com
> and Footnote <footnote.com>. Where else can you search so many records quickly and easily, without leaving home?
But
when you're expecting free, running up against a sizeable fee (often
without knowing for sure a record names your ancestor) can make you
want to head-butt your LCD. To avoid a concussion, watch for these
paths that may lead to paid sites: