Ethical, transparent, and respected, the awards are judged by esteemed industry experts who follow a robust two-step judging process that includes pre-scoring to establish a shortlist and judge discussion to determine winners and in some cases silver awards.
None of our award judges can take part in the competition and any conflicts of interest must be declared.
The APAC Agency Awards are accredited by the Awards Trust Mark – The Independent Awards Standards Council – Trust Mark Scheme.
Dateme Tamuno | Head of Digital Marketing | SemanticGeek
Dateme is a digital marketer with experience running organic and paid search campaigns for companies across several verticals. Currently, he is the head of digital marketing for a student accommodation agency in London. A regular speaker at BrightonSEO and often challenging search marketers to create a deeper understanding of the user intent that transcends the informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional classifications. He has completed ten marathons and has a goal of running 50 before he turns 50.
Eli Schwartz | Growth Advisor and SEO Strategic Consultant |
Eli Schwartz is an SEO expert and consultant with more than a decade of experience driving successful SEO and growth programs for leading B2B and B2C companies. He helps clients like Shutterstock, BlueNile, Quora, Getaround, Mixpanel, and Zendesk build and execute Global SEO strategies that dramatically increase their organic visibility at scale. In the past, Eli led the SEO team at SurveyMonkey, building organic search from nearly zero to one of the largest growth drivers at the company. He helped launched SurveyMonkey’s first APAC office and oversaw international SEO pre- and post-IPO. Prior to SurveyMonkey, he led user acquisition at High Gear Media, pushing the company from 500,000 new users to 6 million every month in just three years. Eli frequently speaks at marketing events across the U.S., Asia, and Europe, and he authors columns published on Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, and Search Engine Journal. His work has been featured on sites ranging from Techcrunch to the Y Combinator blog. He has guest lectured at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, Singapore’s Civil Service College, and the Founder’s Institute. Eli regularly appears as a guest on top industry podcasts such as Y Combinator, Everybody Hate’s Marketers, and Search Nerds.
Janna Pugh | SEO Specialist | Five9
Janna Pugh is a SEO Specialist with a history of agency and in-house work. She has recently been nationally recognized as the Industry Rising Star in Conductor's 2022 C2 Summit and regularly speaks with college classes about the essentials of organic marketing. With her passion for SEO, she knows firsthand how to make the smallest and largest websites succeed organically. Her areas of focus specialize in enterprise SEO, with scalability and automation for both small and large SEO teams. Her varied approach to SEO combines on-site content with off-site brand management. In her free time, she loves trying out new recipes and reading mystery novels.
Jim Banks | Digital Marketing OG & Podcast Host | Spades Media
Jim Banks is CEO of Spades Media which is a UK based digital marketing agency. Jim is host of popular digital marketing podcast Bad Decisions with Jim Banks Jim has expertise in paid advertising across platforms including Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Meta Ads and Programmatic Display. Jim has a wealth of experience working with online eCommerce retailers worldwide. Jim is recognized as a trailblazer in high-volume paid media campaigns and strategies. Jim has collaborated with over 1000 businesses, contributing to their success in generating over $1.8 billion in eCommerce sales. Jim is a seasoned keynote speaker who is highly sought after and a frequent judge at search marketing award events.
Lukas Adamec | Freelancer & CEO | Abadam Marketing
Lukas Adamec has been working within Paid Digital for 11+ years, during which he transitioned from an employee to a freelancer & CEO of Abadam Marketing. In the last 5 years Lukas has focused on Consultancy - working with established agencies to deliver client growth. His focus is particularly on international paid opportunities, from Google to Yandex, from Naver to Baidu, from Yahoo JP to Seznam. Lukas is a firm believer in knowledge sharing and enjoys discussing experiences with established online marketers as well as providing training to new colleagues. During his time off, Lukas recharges his energy by being disconnected from online influences and instead spends his time on wildlife photography.
Lukasz Zelezny | SEO Consultant |
Lukasz Zelezny, UK Search Awards judge, Top10 UK Social Media influencer and former director of organic performance at uSwitch / Zoopla. Currently is working as an independent SEO Consultant helping in organic traffic acquisition, technical SEO and content marketing. Lukasz started his career in 2005 and has since been responsible for the organic performance of a number of companies including HomeAway, Thomson Reuters, The Digital Property Group, Fleetway Travel, uSwitch, Zoopla. Each year Lukasz is speaking at many SEO and social media conferences. He was a speaker at ClickZ Shanghai China, ClickZ Jakarta Indonesia, SiMGA Malta, SES London as well as Marketing Festival in Brno, Brighton SEO in Brighton and UnGagged in London. Every year he is actively participating in 10 to 20 events as an SEO/Social Media keynote speaker. Additionally, he organizes workshops and meetups where he is sharing tips around SEO, Social Media and Analytics.
Muhammad Umer | HOD PPC - Google Ads Globital | PPC Consultant | PPC Freelance Service Provider |
A proactive, creative & committed individual with 8+ years of experience in Paid Search. SEM & PPC Expert, Google certified. Pro in creating, developing & implementing effective paid advertising strategies for businesses.
Pankaj Pilaniwala | Product Manager | Google
Pankaj Pilaniwala is an insightful Product leader who has extensive experience in creating impactful products that can grow businesses and change lives. He's led and built products in Edtech, Fintech, and other customer-facing technologies - including running a startup that gamified learning experience. He understands how to create data-driven products that give customers what they need. He brings together expertise in tech, and people management skills when it comes to creating an aesthetically pleasing tech ecosystem. His product acumen makes him an inspirational leader. He is an expert in his field. He is a true innovator who constantly explores new technologies to create new solutions to provide customers with the best possible experiences and has a proven track record of delivering delightful product experiences.
Rejoice Ojiaku | SEO Specialist & Content Strategist |
Rejoice Ojiaku is an SEO Specialist & Content Strategist, as well as the Co-Founder of B-DigitalUK – a platform for showcasing and empowering black talent in the UK digital marketing scene. Her expertise lies in SEO, Diversity and inclusion, all bolstered by strong personal branding both online and offline.
Reyhaneh Jafari | SEO expert | 365 Digital Consulting
She is a SEO expert with 3+ years at experience with different companies who is hungry to learn and provides creative solutions to unique problems. She started her job with content strategy and continued her path to SEO. She is Skilled at technical optimization, on-page and off-page SEO, keyword research, project management, and content marketing funnel analysis. She has experiences in Google Ads and other digital marketing channels but her specialty is SEO. She tries to lead her life towards my interests and faces every challenge in this way while enjoying the whole path.
Samuel Hall | Senior Director, Corporate, Employee and Brand Communications | Samsara
With 20 years experience within the brand, media, content and communications world, across both corporate, consumer and employee leadership communication roles, I am a true believer in the value that strategic communications can bring to any organisation be it in terms of brand value or contribution to the bottom line. I have a proven track record in campaign management, content creation, social media strategy creation and execution, people and agency management at both a Pan EMEA and local market level, supported by solid contacts across both UK and international media and influencers.
Steve Kuncewicz | Head Of Creative, Digital & Marketing | Glaisyers Etl
Steve is a Partner and Head of Creative, Digital and Marketing at Glaisyers ETL in Manchester. He specialises in intellectual property, media social media and privacy law and is listed as a "recommended lawyer" in the Legal 500, and was a oo-founder pf the Bulletproof Agency Network. He is a regular media spokesperson, and has given interviews to the local and national press through BBC Breakfast, Sky News, ITV, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live and LBC London. Steve is also the Manchester Publicity Association’s Honorary Solicitor.
Veronika Höller | Global SEO Lead | CompuGroup
Veronika is a Global SEO Lead and has worked in SEO and PPC marketing for over 14 years. She started as a copywriter and PPC Manager in a little Ads Agency. She has continuously developed herself further into the direction of SEO. Over the years, she has worked as a digital marketing manager in agencies and international companies, including CompuGroup where she is now. International SEO and PPC Strategies are Top of her priority list. She views SEO as a whole puzzle and not just individual sub-areas, hence why she trained herself in all areas – content, technology, PPC, SMM and UX. Today she spreads her knowledge as a speaker on the stages of international digital marketing conferences such as BrightonSEO, SMX advanced, International Search Summit etc. For her all digital marketing channels have to be united to get the best of your website.
