Google’s director of performance, Ian Carrington, heads The Drum's Search Top 50

Asked as part of the Search Top 50 survey what he believed the biggest game changer for the search industry was likely to be, Carrington replied: “Mobile was the last game changer and advertisers (not consumers) are still getting to grips with it. Next big one will be the internet of things and how you can search on any device, any time (eg fridges, cars, glasses, TVs, etc).”

In second place on the poll was Ben Wood, global president at iProspect, followed by Google's global business and strategy manager David Richards in third, VCCP Media founder and managing director Paul Mead in fourth, and Brian Kealy, Bing audience lead UK for Microsoft, in fifth place.

The list of 50 was compiled from an initial long list of 150 search marketing professionals from across the UK, which was then opened to a public vote on thedrum.com.

The full list of 50 individuals can be found online, with each profiled in a supplement accompanying the latest edition of The Drum Magazine, which can be purchased through The Drum’s online store.