Good Morning I was a bit dismayed to read this thread. I have been researching ie "proper research" :-)) for 15 years now and have subscribed to Ancestry for 5 or so. Ancestry has its failings but I consider it by far to be the best tool available online. In my view GR is a disaster with its "hot matches" concept but I wouldn't dream of berating anybody who uses it - just not for me. Liana put it so succinctly I've snipped some of her posting but agree with it all. "When I hit a block in my own line and/or can't sleep I often work on my "peripheral" lines. I enjoy the mental puzzle of figuring out a particular line even when they're not directly related to me. I find it fascinating to trace connections but only add them to my tree if I am satisfied in my own mind that details such addresses, occupations, family members are consistent from census to census and can be verified by "secondary" sources, such as the IGI ( oh, and NOT patron submissions by the way). I have never, ever incorporated other people's trees into my own just because Ancestry tells me there are hints that match. I've noticed that this bothers people more than I think it should once I've explained my connection. There's almost a proprietary tinge of "why are MY great grandparents on YOUR ancestry tree?" I guess the rude answer, which I never give except in my own head is "Because I pay for this service and I'll use it as I see fit." My own tree is public and anything I post on there, photos, documentation etc, is available for others to use if they're of relevance - or just interesting! If this is unacceptable to people then I suppose the simple solutions are to make your tree private, unsubscribe to Ancestry or shun the Internet. Shame really. Bob