legacy.com

{{short description|Commercial provider of online memorials}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}

{{Infobox dot-com company

| name = Legacy Inc.

| logo = Legacy.com logo.png

| founder = Stopher Bartol

| CEO = Curtis Funk

| founded = {{Start date and age|1998}}

| url = {{URL|https://www.legacy.com/}}

| advertising = Banner ads, promoted links

| language = primarily English

| company_type = Private

| area_served = Worldwide

| location_city = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.{{cite web|url=https://www.builtinchicago.org/company/legacycom |title=Hi, we're Legacy.com|access-date=January 24, 2023}}

| owner = Legacy.com, Inc.

| location_country =

| industry = Internet industry
Media

| current_status = Active

}}

Legacy.com is a United States–based website founded in 1998,{{Cite web |title=About Us – Legacy.com |url=https://www.legacy.com/about-us/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715225530/https://www.legacy.com/about-us/ |archive-date=July 15, 2020 |access-date=July 23, 2020 |website=Legacy.com}} the world's largest commercial provider of online memorials.Hampson, Rick. [https://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-05-21-memorialday_N.htm "Legacies of war dead endure"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120810235850/http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-05-21-memorialday_N.htm |date=August 10, 2012 }}. USA Today, May 22, 2009. Accessed September 18, 2009 The Web site hosts obituaries and memorials for more than 70 percent of all U.S. deaths.Keagle, Lauri Harvey. [http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_4c8b4493-115a-537f-a3a3-7107ab11421c.html "Death in the Dot-com Age"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012051354/http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/article_4c8b4493-115a-537f-a3a3-7107ab11421c.html |date=October 12, 2009 }}, NWI Times, October 10, 2009. Accessed October 12, 2009 Legacy.com hosts obituaries for more than three-quarters of the 100 largest newspapers in the U.S., by circulation.[https://archive.today/20130201051352/http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS139175+28-Apr-2008+PRN20080428 "Legacy.com Achieves Milestone: 650 Newspaper Affiliates"]. Reuters, April 28, 2008. Accessed February 24, 2009. The site attracts more than 30 million unique visitors per month and is among the top 40 trafficked websites in the world.

Legacy, along with the smaller Column.us and its subsidiary Modulist.news, provide significant income to newspapers for obituaries which survivors write and pay newspapers to print, over $50 million from late 2022 to early 2024. Overall US newspapers earn $500 million per year from paid obituaries.{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Bill |date=2024-10-24 |title=Obits for a paper’s long-time staffer underline new approaches to media competition and collaboration |url=https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2024/newspaper-obits-nonprofit-content-sharing/ |access-date=2024-10-28 |website=Poynter |language=en-US}}

Legacy.com attaches a publicly accessible guestbook to most of the obituaries it hosts,Urbina, Ian. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05memorial.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=ab8534741367a5fd&ex=1320382800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss "In Online Mourning, Don’t Speak Ill of the Dead"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180221035428/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/us/05memorial.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=ab8534741367a5fd&ex=1320382800&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss |date=February 21, 2018 }}. The New York Times, November 5, 2006. Accessed February 24, 2009 which enables anyone with an Internet connection to pay tribute to someone whose obituary appears in one of Legacy.com's affiliate newspapers or is self-published on Legacy.com. The company reviews more than 1,000,000 guestbook entries each month to make sure that entries are appropriate and sensitive to those close to the family. About 75 percent of all guestbooks receive entries. {{asof|2016|post=,}} the company was approaching 100 million guestbook entries on its site.

Legacy.com is a privately held company based in Chicago, Illinois, with more than 1,500 newspaper affiliates in North America, Europe and Australia,{{cite news |url=http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/109703/better-grieving-through-technology.html |title=Better Grieving Through Technology |work=Media Magazine |date=July 14, 2009 |first=Douglas |last=Quenqua |access-date=October 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024024956/http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/109703/better-grieving-through-technology.html |archive-date=October 24, 2016 |url-status=live }}Kirsner, Scott.[http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2009/08/23/monstercom_founder_sees_untapped_potential_in_death_notices/ "Monster.com founder sees untapped potential in death notices"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090911074139/http://www.boston.com/ae/media/articles/2009/08/23/monstercom_founder_sees_untapped_potential_in_death_notices/ |date=September 11, 2009 }}, The Boston Globe, August 23, 2009. Accessed September 18, 2009 including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and Manchester Evening News.[http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/2007/11nov/071112obit.shtml "Interactive online death notices for Midlands newspaper company"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205004637/http://www.holdthefrontpage.co.uk/news/2007/11nov/071112obit.shtml |date=December 5, 2008 }}, Hold the Front Page, November 12, 2007. Accessed February 24, 2009. The executive team was previously led by Stopher Bartol, and is now led by CEO Curtis Funk as of 2024.{{Cite news|url=http://www.legacy.com/about/leadership|title=Leadership Team at Legacy.com|last=mlemay|date=October 25, 2016|newspaper=Legacy.com|language=en|access-date=December 20, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221092242/http://www.legacy.com/about/leadership|archive-date=December 21, 2016|url-status=live}}