FPO for Leadership
FPO for Leadership
We are very fortunate to have such a phenomenal leadership team with such interesting experiences and stories to tell. Learn more about the leadership here at The Search Agency.
David Hughes joined The Search Agency in early 2004 as Chief Executive Officer with hands on management for its product, technology, operations, sales and account management functions. Prior to The Search Agency, David served as Senior Vice-President, Corporate Development for United Online, Inc. He was responsible for developing and running all user acquisition programs, new products and services to be offered to NetZero/Juno customers, broadband services, developing and implementing search services and large strategic relationships. Prior to United Online, he was a Management Consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and an Associate with Mercer Management Consulting. David is a graduate of Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration, where he was awarded the Dean's Award for leadership, and the University of Western Ontario where he earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honors. He is also a past President of the Harvard Business School Association Club of Southern California and currently serves on its Board.
Barbara Palmer is a marketing executive with a strong foundation in entertainment, technology, operational management and brand marketing. She joined The Search Agency as a President, bringing with her a strong management background and broad leadership experience. Prior to The Search Agency, Barbara was a Principal at 2 Degrees Ventures, a branded entertainment content agency which she joined after serving as SVP Marketing at Ameriquest Mortgage Company. Barbara was SVP, Marketing Operations for United Online, Inc. where she her role incorporated all facets of customer acquisition, retention and maintaining the user experience throughout their lifecycle. Barbara began her career in entertainment at Paramount Studios, Universal Studios Hollywood and Planet Hollywood. She graduated cum laude from Ithaca College and attended The National Law Center at George Washington University.
Carl Dunham founded The Search Agency in 2002 and serves as Chief Technology Officer. His primary responsibilities include product development and R&D. Prior to founding The Search Agency, Carl was Vice President of Product Development for Search123 and Managing Director of Simpli.com, which was sold to United Online, Inc. in 2000. Before Simpli, he ran the Software Engineering group at American Power Conversion, with teams in the US, Ireland, Japan and India. He has a degree in Computer Science from Brown University and an MBA from the University of Rhode Island.
David 'Otto' Rahmel joined The Search Agency in 2003 and has 14 years of management, strategic planning and business development experience with leading-edge technology companies. He is a regular speaker on SEO and Video Search. Otto also has more than 17 years’ experience in developing numerous platforms for companies and educational institutions including developing and managing financial databases for UCLA. He has spent the past eight years developing teams and providing SEO services to dozens of Fortune 500 companies around the world. Prior to joining The Search Agency, he managed daily operations at Worldwide Mediaworks, a B2B import/export company.
Peter Harrington joined The Search Agency in mid-2008 and is responsible for strategic planning, financial analysis and accounting operations. Prior to joining The Search Agency, Peter served as Director of Finance at Yahoo! Search Marketing and Overture Services, Inc. where his responsibilities included global financial reporting, partner finance operations, as well as supporting its successful IPO in June 1999. Peter previously worked for various subsidiaries of Paramount and Universal Studios, and for several years focused on International markets with London as his base. His responsibilities included strategic and business planning as well as financial and entity valuation analyses. Peter received his MBA from the University of Southern California, where he graduated with honors and is a Certified Accountant in the United Kingdom.
Peter joined The Search Agency in 2012, previously serving as an executive team member and SVP and GM of Oversee's Monetization Services division. Prior to joining Oversee, Peter was GM of MyCorporation, an online incorporation business in Intuit's small business division. He also spent seven years with Overture / Yahoo! where he was the Regional General Manager for Yahoo!’s Search and Search Marketing business in the Americas. In this position, he built and managed the regionally-based organization that provided search services in five countries to more than 50 distribution partners and nearly 20,000 marketers. He also played a key role in launching and growing Overture’s International division from a team of three to a billion dollar organization with a presence in over 20 international markets. He received his MBA in International Management from Thunderbird.
Matt Kain joined The Search Agency in mid-2009 with overall responsibility for Revenue Maximization, Business Development, Sales and Marketing. In 2011, he moved back to Australia to lead the Asia-Pacific team. Matt has more than 10 years of senior management experience in digital marketing and is a recognized expert in search marketing. Prior to joining the Search Agency, Matt was a Managing Partner at GroupM, OMMA Magazine's 2008 Search Agency of the Year. In this role, Matt served as Managing Director of Mindshare Search, working with clients such as Dell, Unilever, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola, SAP and Sprint. Matt joined GroupM through WPP's acquisition of 24/7 Real Media, where he was responsible for Search and Business Development and where he led the company to twice be the Top Rated Search Agency by JupiterResearch. Matt joined 24/7 in 2004 through their acquisition of pioneering Australian SEM Specialist, Decide Interactive, where he had been General Manager. Matt is an active industry figure, and has served on the Advisory Boards of the major search engines and industry bodies SEMPO, IAB, and AAAA's. His opinion is regularly sought by investors and journalists, and he is a regular speaker and writer on search, behavioral targeting and online marketing.
Brian joined The Search Agency in 2011 with the primary focus of organizing the product strategy to meet the needs of specific client targets going forward. Managing both the agency and licensed SMB platform product lines combines his passion for the customer and the rewards of success when the ideal product mix is achieved and we have exceeded our clients’ goals. Brian was most recently running the ad products teams at CityGrid Media (an IAC owned company) and, prior to that, was Senior Vice President of business development for Revver.com and Vice President of Search for Search123, a ValueClick company. After graduating with a BA in Theater Arts from University of Oregon, he taught high school English and then transitioned to retail/business when employed by Bugle Boy Industries. Brian’s favorite TSA core value is Partnership/Collaboration and his favorite quote is “Live life on purpose”.
Steve Levitt joined The Search Agency in mid-2006 and is responsible for the Business Development team, which works directly with new customers to design campaigns that meet their specific goals. Levitt brings more than 15 years of expertise in complex and consultative sales with large corporations. Prior to joining The Search Agency, he was Director of Sales for a startup search advertising firm and has gained expertise in technology, marketing and sales while working for Level (3) Communications, Genuity/GTE and Infonet. He has a BS in Business Administration from California Polytechnic University at Pomona.
Joy Musry joined The Search Agency as Senior Counsel in mid-2008. In February 2011 she was promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Previously with Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP, Joy’s focus is on technology transactions and intellectual property matters for emerging growth companies. She is responsible for the management and execution of all of The Search Agency’s legal and transactional activities. Joy holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the London School of Economics, earning First Class Honors, and a Master’s Degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, where she was awarded the Dean’s Fellowship. She received her J.D. cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was Articles Editor for the Northwestern University Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif.
Alec Green joined The Search Agency in 2008 as the Vice President of Marketing, leading all aspects of marketing strategy, promotions, public relations, and lead generation for the company. Alec was previously the Director of Marketing at Zynx Health where he spearheaded 2 complete redesigns of the corporate web site and implemented a comprehensive search engine optimization and search engine marketing program. He has also held a variety of marketing and sales roles at Amgen Inc., worked in consulting at William M. Mercer, and was a seventh-grade mathematics teacher. Alec earned a BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA.
Ben Gibson has worked in digital marketing for over 13 years, pioneering new strategies from the client, agency and technology provider sides of the business. Ben has helped leading international brands with their digital marketing strategies during positions at The Search Agency, lastminute.com, LookSmart, The Technology Works and The Search Works. In 2009, Ben joined The Search Agency to launch its European arm. During his tenure, the organization has grown to be one of Europe's leading digital agencies and technology providers for both national and local campaigns, working with such brands as Yellow Pages, the BBC and SLH. In February 2013, Ben moved to The Search Agency's headquarters in Los Angeles to lead the global development of AdMax Local, the world's first fully automated SEM solution that enables businesses to run high quality and profitable local search campaigns. Ben has launched businesses and led teams across the globe in Europe, Japan and the Asia Pacific region. Prior to The Search Agency, Ben held an executive position at The Search Works, helping to turn the boutique agency into the market leader, through a successful combination of great people, technologies and processes. Ben has a B.A. in History from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Jason has been closely involved with The Search Agency from both the client side and agency side for over 7 years. In April, 2012 he joined as Managing Director, Canada in order to offer The Search Agency’s unmatched level of service and technology to his colleagues above the 49th. Jason is an experienced, senior marketing and business management executive that specializes in brand response and customer acquisition. He has extensive International marketing experience developing customer acquisition and retention strategies for companies that include BlackBerry, Procter & Gamble, Amazon, Chapters and Points.com among many others. He has been a Board Member of the Internet Advertising Bureau of Canada and currently sits on the Marketing Advisory Board of the Heart and Stroke Foundation.
Raashid Siddique joined The Search Agency in November 2007 as a Senior SEO Account Manager. In mid-2008 he was promoted to the Director of SEO Account Management and in January 2009 took up a new role as Director of the India, Middle East and SE Asia regions. In May 2009 he launched the Bangalore office and is responsible for all facets of the operation which includes, but not limited to, infrastructure build out, legal, financial and HR. Prior to working for The Search Agency, Raashid worked as a Senior IT Manager for HealthNet, one of the nation's largest managed healthcare companies and DST Output, a software billing company. He also brings years of management consulting experience which he acquired during his tenure as a Senior Management Consultant at Deloitte Consulting, a top tier management consulting firm. He holds a BA in Political Science from California State University, Northridge and an MBA from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.