Starting October 15, paternal (YDNA) and maternal (mtDNA) tests will be $59.95 each, or combined a low $119.90. This compares to $149/ $179 (total $328) on AncestryDNA or $399 (combined test) from the Google backed 23andme.

Familybuilder will combine its social networking genealogy network of over 20 million family
tree profiles on Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, Orkut and Hi5 to promote the now cheaper DNA tests, in what it calls an effort to bring DNA testing to the mass market.

To use, consumers receive the Familybuilder DNA kit by mail and collect a DNA sample. The process takes less than a few minutes to complete, and the return postage is prepaid. Results from the test are provided online and via email.

The price offered by Familybuilder is a long way from 23andme’s original price of $999 less than 12 months ago, and could well spark a serious price war in a competitive market where no company yet has the upper hand. The net result either way is that having to be well off to get a DNA test is now a thing of the past, and these tests are open to nearly everyone.

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Unlike competitors who offers genealogy as a stand alone product, Family Tree is offered as a social networking site application, and currently supports Facebook (it was the first genealogy service on FB), Bebo, MySpace, Hi5, and Orkut. Familybuilder’s Family Tree leverages the social graphs of the social networks it resides on, allowing users to find and communicate with relatives, build family trees, preserve family history, track family activity and more.

The company has taken two rounds of funding, $250-$500k in seed in August 2007 and an additional $1.5m in February this year.

Facebook apps can be a dime a dozen, and I’ve had an aversion in the past to covering them, but what struck me with Familybuilder is an impressive range of numbers from a company I’d previously not heard of. Family Tree has over 16 million profiles built in the Familybuilder network with over 3.5 million users and growing. Over 2 million new family tree profiles are being created every month. According to comScore, Familybuilder is the 4th most trafficked online genealogy service as of March 2008.

Perhaps it is by its very nature (a social network site app) that Familybuilder isn’t getting more publicity (I looked, its under-reported for its numbers). Sometimes a shiny site and Silicon Valley address can work is ones favor, and Familybuilder has neither. What ever the reason, with numbers like this, it’s a company we’ll be watching in the future.

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