Facebook app, Family Builder, is a popular genealogy application running under Facebook. The app was sold last June to the background checking company, Intelius, and was given the new name, “Live Family.” Users of the app are aware of the name change, but not everyone knew of the change in ownership. The following excerpt is from an article posted on GeekWire provides all the details:
Intelius quietly buys Facebook genealogy app Family Builder
November 8, 2011 at 12:32 pm by John Cook
Intelius is best known for its background checks on family members, friends or employees. But now the Bellevue company is expanding in a new direction: Helping busy families connect and communicate.
Intelius quietly purchased popular Facebook app Family Builder on June 15th, rebranding the service as Live Family. The company has kept the acquisition pretty close to the vest up until now, with Intelius senior vice president Ed Petersen admitting that the new property is very much a work in progress.
“We did not buy Buckingham Palace,” said Petersen, who is now leading a team at Intelius who oversees the new unit. “What we bought was a great piece of property with a house that needed some work, in a really nice neighborhood.”
The property does have a decent number of tenants. When Intelius bought Family Builder in June, it boasted about 30 million registered users. That number has climbed to just over 41 million in the past four months, and Petersen sees big things ahead.
The idea, as explained by Petersen, is to create a place where brothers, sisters, cousins, moms, dads, aunts, uncles and grandparents can securely share photos, news, family tree information and more.
Petersen noted that Facebook has created a “social graph,” and LinkedIn has built an impressive “professional graph.” In his view, there’s a significant opportunity to create what he dubs a “family graph.”
The correct spelling is with 2 “l’s” — Intellius
Smart move by Intellius. They might want to consider going “going deep” into family history with this choice portal. Suggest they talk to the owner of Millisecond Publishing Company, Inc.