Google honours outstanding UK search strategists to celebrate its 20th Birthday
Google's ‘Searchies’ hall of fame celebrates the search engine’s 20th anniversary with 20 industry-nominated leaders in search.

Google honours outstanding UK search strategists to celebrate its 20th Birthday
To honour the search strategists of our industry, Google celebrated their efforts and achievements at its Search Party on 8 November 2018. The event marked 20 years since the birth of Google Search, and acknowledged the marketing experts – known as Searchies – who are some of the best and brightest talent in the industry.
Nominated by their industry peers, 20 Searchies were awarded on the night.
To commemorate two decades of search, Google also unveiled a new series of short films titled, Search like a G, in which internet entrepreneur Chabuddy G of BBC Two’s People Just Do Nothing fame featured. Played by Asim Chaudhry, the spots created by Poke see Chabuddy G finally enjoy some business success with his latest venture, Peanut Dust, thanks to the help of paid-search experts.
“The unsung heroes behind the success of Google Ads are the search strategists across the industry whose expertise and hard work demonstrates how valuable search can be for businesses when used to its full potential,” said Ronan Harris, vice president & MD UK & Ireland at Google.
"Search wouldn’t be nearly as powerful without the brilliant minds of Searchies who know how to use the program to drive business and advertising growth. We celebrate those people today and the huge contribution they make to the UK advertising and marketing industries.”
The 20 Searchies commemorated at Google’s 20th anniversary include:
Daniel Wilkinson, Global Head of Paid Media, JellyFish
Kudzai Mubaiwa, Head of PPC, Blue 449
Wajid Ali, Head of Paid Search, Forward3D
Alex Hyndman, Search Director, MG OMD
Martin Reed, PPC Account Director, Croud
Sophie Newton, COO, Brainlabs
Jocelyn Le Conte, Head of Paid Search, Merkle | Periscopix
Hazell Lat, Search Planner / Buyer, MediaCom
Daniel Roberts, Account Director, IProspect
Rafi Adler, Senior Marketing Specialist, PPC, BookingGo
Soraya Gofti, Head of EMEA SEM, Hotels.com
Juan Perez, Head of PPC, Hostelworld
Chris Taylor, Marketing Operations Manager, Bet 365
Manuel Barbero, Head of Paid Search, IG
Martin Soule, Performance Business Director, Performics
Andrea Rocca, Paid Search Technologist, RS Components
Mark Evans, PPC Lead, Shop Direct
Kate May, Online Marketing Manager, Next
Josh Grindley, Senior Search PPC Executive, Total Jobs
Christoph Meirose, Director of Customer Acquisition, Farfetch
To learn more about the Top 20 Searchies, watch the films and get the latest Search advertising insights – click here.
Plus, catch up on Think with Google’s ‘Search History’ series, where they’re putting the spotlight on some of the greatest minds in Search – starting with one of the Top 20 Searchies: Jocelyn Le Conte, Head of Paid Search at Merkle | Periscopix.