How would you rate each of the major genealogy research services?

[Adair]

I use Ancestry as a paid member and I love it. I use genealogy.com for the free parts, namely the message board, and I love that as well. I have had many successes with both of those sites.

[W F G]

Such as ancestry.com, genealogy.com, etc.

[Shirley T]

I like Ancestry.Com for its records and both for their message boards. Also I like the Public Member Tree program that Ancestry.Com now has to set up your family tree. I have some of my family in Ancestry World Tree.

But let me give you a warning I am always giving. Information in family trees on ANY
website, free or paid, must be view as clues not as absolute fact. The trees are subscriber submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented. Even when you see the same info repeatedly by many different subscriber that is no guarantee at all it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying.

It galls me that if you have Family Tree Maker and a subscription to Genealogy.Com, they actually encourage you to merge other people's trees into yours. Then you can upload your merged tree to various websites. People who do this are just collecting names and don't have quality research.

The Public Member Trees on Ancestry.Com, is very easy to bring forth records. It will frequently do a search for you on an individual. It can be very helpful. Sometimes you have to be careful. But particularly be careful if what they are pulling up is information from someone else's tree in One World Tree. Don't take it as fact. Actually when they set up One World Tree they took the information various subscribers had put in Ancestry World Tree and brought it forward to One World Tree. Frequently they have what looks like one person with different information on that person. However, I have seen twice where they combined 2 people into 1. You should always verify other subscriber's information with as much documentation as possible. This is where your cost can come in but at least you will know you have a valid family tree.

[wendy c]

voice in the wilderness (as I often am)-
Your ancestry is going to be found anywhere that might be relevant to THAT PERSON. It might or might not even be online. Ellis Island may be a gold mine for persons whose ancestors came through NY in the late 1800s but of no use at all for those who came to VA in the 1600s. Texas land office archives is one of my favorites, but means nothing to you, if your line is in Minnesota, or London.
I am not real fond of sites or services that collect family trees. As Shirley mentions.. these are user submitted, and subject to the skill levels of the researcher. Many people like this.. until they discover that their ancestor is not researched and not online.
I don't advise having a "favorite" place to go. None of these can replace your capacity to analize your own ancestor.. who they were, where they were, what they did (and sites that can relate to that.. ie early military history, etc). If you focus only on online research, you have NO IDEA how much you miss, by not going to the courthouse in the area where your ancestor lived. Believe me.. I say this from long experience, and comparing what I have found in dusty old books.
The closest thing I have to any "favorite" is www.cyndislist.com, since what she does is collect genealogy sites. There are hundreds of thousands listed. Browsing there, is an education in itself, as to variety of places that will have info on your ancestry.
With all respect.. this is not what you asked. Nonetheless, my comment is that the MORE sites you use, the better your research. When you think in terms of favorite sites, you lock yourself into a mindset.