For the second year, Google partnered with The Drum to launch Women in Search 2016, its initiative to discover and celebrate the most successful women in the search marketing sector.

The process began by calling on the industry to nominate, with nominations followed by a public vote participated in by thousands of The Drum's readers.

The top three individuals from the vote progressed to the final stage of the process. In a new twist from last year, the three shortlisted women pitched to a panel of judges in a closed door session to determine the final winner.

The overall winner of the Dragon’s Den-style pitch, Sophia Glennon of Confused.com, was announced on the night of The Drum Search Awards on Wednesday 8 June.

The aim of the Women in Search initiative remains the same, to both highlight the shocking gender imbalance in the search marketing industry and to showcase and celebrate the opportunity for women in the sector.

Below, you can view the fifty women shortlisted for our public vote in 2016.

Questions regarding the initiative can be addressed to Shane Taylor, research manager at The Drum.