The SEO and SEM industry came out in full force at last night’s third annual Search Engine Land Awards Gala in New York City.

Created by Search Engine Land and held in conjunction with this week’s SMX East Conference, the event recognized top performers across 24 different award categories, including Best B2B SEM Initiative, Best SEO Initiative, Best Search Marketer of the Year and Search Agency of the Year.

“It’s my third year as a judge, and the industry continues to blow us away with the incredible work happening in search marketing,” said Search Engine Land Associate Editor Ginny Marvin, who emceed the event along with Search Engine Land Editor in Chief Michelle Robbins.

“What struck me about all the entries was not just the comprehensiveness of the campaigns,” said Robbins, “but the creativity and unique approaches to problem-solving demonstrated in the work.”

In addition to recognizing the best and brightest in the industry, the event also benefited the non-profit organization Women Who Code, which received a portion of proceeds as a donation.

“We selected this charity because their work is centered around providing resources and opportunities for women to excel in technology careers,” said Robbins, “As a woman who’s been coding for 20 years now, at a company 71 percent powered by women, we are thrilled to be able to provide this assistance to bring more peers into the fold.”

Best dress man at the #LandyAwards with some really talented women from #smx @sengineland @MichelleRobbins @GinnyMarvin @elisabethos pic.twitter.com/uZv5srKNWB

— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) October 25, 2017

Event sponsors included Google, Acronym Media and Stone Temple. Derrick Djang, head of event marketing for Google, also took the stage to say a few words about last night’s winners.

“In my role at Google, I see a lot of events. It’s literally my job,” said Djang, “But the ones I’ve come to love the most are the ones like the Search Engine Land Awards, where our industry gathers to promote and celebrate innovation.”

Google’s Djang said he’s more and more impressed each year by the entries submitted, and that this year’s nominees completely blew him away.

“All of you in this room have raised expectations for what’s possible in advertising,” said Djang.

For anyone unable to attend last night’s event, here is the full list of Search Engine Land Award winners.

The 2017 Search Engine Land Award Winners

• Best Retail SEM Initiative: Brainlabs
• Best Retail SEO Initiative: iCrossing
• Best Local SEM Initiative: DAC Group
• Best Local SEO Initiative: Odd Dog Media
• Best Mobile SEM Initiative: Precis Digital
• Best Mobile SEO Initiative: Wolfgang Digital
• Best B2B SEM Initiative: Reprise Media
• Best B2B SEO Initiative: iCrossing
• Best SEO Initiative — Small Business: Trimark Digital
• Best SEM Initiative — Small Business: Todd Silverstein
• Best Overall SEO Initiative — Enterprise: SapientRazorfish
• Best Overall SEM Initiative — Enterprise: Nebo
• Best Enterprises SEM Initiative — Travel & Lifestyle: Mediahub
• Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — Financial Services: Merkle (US)
• Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — B2B: Metric Theory
• Best Enterprise SEM Initiative — B2C: Brainlabs
• Best Cross-Channel Integration of Search: Precis Digital
• Best Overall Search Marketing Initiative: Wolfgang Digital
• Search Marketer of the Year: Genevieve Head-Gordon
• Search Marketer of the Year: John Lincoln
• In-House Team of the Year — SEM: UPMC Health Plan
• In-House Team of the Year — SEO: Comcast Xfinity
• Agency of the Year — SEM: Wpromote
• Agency of the Year — SEO: HigherVisibility

Search Engine Land applauds this year’s award winners and sends thanks to all the participants who submitted entries. We can’t wait to see what you achieve next year!

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Amy Gesenhues

Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.