Agenda
Behold, the SMX Advanced agenda is LIVE! Keep scrolling to check out the program for our first in-person event since 2019. More sessions will be added in the coming weeks... keep checking back for updates!
The All Access pass unlocks everything you see below. Check out parts of the program a free Expo+ pass unlocks.
Wednesday — June 11th, 2025
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET
🎟 Registration Open: Pick up your pass and get ready for the ultimate training experience.
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET
Mastermind Sessions
TRACK
Moderated Roundtables
Mastermind sessions - Round 1
Mastermind sessions - Round 1
Wednesday — June 11th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Mastermind sessions - Round 1
Wednesday — June 11th, 2025
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Say hello to Mastermind sessions - a brand-new addition to the SMX Advanced experience. These intimate 10-person roundtables give you the opportunity to dive into actionable tactics while networking with recognized industry experts. Each table tackles a specific aspect of search marketing and is designed to help you:
- Engage in Q&A directly with speakers and peers in your niche.
- Be in-the-know for upcoming trends before they hit mainstream.
- Build connections that could lead to partnerships, job opportunities, or mentor relationships.
Mastermind sessions are available to All Access pass holders only and require an additional registration step. Click here to learn more.
TRACK
Moderated Roundtables
Mastermind sessions - Round 2
Mastermind sessions - Round 2
Wednesday — June 11th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Mastermind sessions - Round 2
Wednesday — June 11th, 2025
4:00 PM - 4:50 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Say hello to Mastermind sessions - a brand-new addition to the SMX Advanced experience. These intimate 10-person roundtables give you the opportunity to dive into actionable tactics while networking with recognized industry experts. Each table tackles a specific aspect of search marketing and is designed to help you:
- Engage in Q&A directly with speakers and peers in your niche.
- Be in-the-know for upcoming trends before they hit mainstream.
- Build connections that could lead to partnerships, job opportunities, or mentor relationships.
Mastermind sessions are available to All Access pass holders only and require an additional registration step. Click here to learn more.
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM ET
👋 Meet & Greet Reception: Reunite with your search marketing community in style.
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
Networking
TRACK
Networking
Morning harbor run
Morning harbor run
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Nick Eubanks, VP of Owned Media, Semrush
Speaker
Nick Eubanks
Nick Eubanks serves as Vice President of Owned Media at Semrush, bringing his passion for growing traffic and conversions to growth-minded companies. His approach combines creativity with a strong focus on revenue generation, and he particularly enjoys designing new products and sharing successes with fellow entrepreneurs.
Morning harbor run
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Join Nick Eubanks, VP of Owned Media at Semrush, for a spirited scenic run along the beautiful Boston harbor!
TRACK
Networking
Morning mindfulness
Morning mindfulness
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Morning mindfulness
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Ready your body, mind, and soul for a rewarding day of learning. Stay tuned for more details!
7:30 AM - 9:00 AM ET
Breakfast
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET
Welcome & Opening Keynote
TRACK
Keynote
How to use SEO and PPC data together to create wins in search, social, and AI
How to use SEO and PPC data together to create wins in search, social, and AI
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Wil Reynolds, Founder and CEO, Seer Interactive
Speaker
Wil Reynolds
Founder and CEO, Seer Interactive
Wil Reynolds, Founder and CEO of Seer Interactive, is a globally recognized thought leader in SEO and digital marketing.
Under Wil's leadership, Seer has expanded into a top-tier digital marketing agency offering services like SEO, Paid Media, Analytics, and Creative. From mid-sized to Fortune 500, Seer services clients in Banking, Higher Ed, SaaS, high tech, and pharma.
As a certified B Corp, the Seer team is dedicated to crushing goals for their clients and uplifting their community – and each other, full stop.
How to use SEO and PPC data together to create wins in search, social, and AI
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Name one tool that combines your SEO and PPC data at a keyword level. We'll wait.
Now name a paid-only or organic-only search engine? We'll wait.
Searchers see both organic and paid results. But no tool lets you see organic and paid data together, side by side -- which would empower you to make better decisions about your SEO and PPC strategies.
Join Wil Reynolds for his inspiring kickoff keynote to learn how you can use search data to combine your SEO and PPC efforts, gain efficiencies, and provide your customers with a better and more unified experience.
After this keynote, you’ll be able to:
- Develop your own tools to gather PPC + SEO data
- Make better customer experiences (by joining this data).
- Cut inefficient spend (if you dare) and put dollars elsewhere.
- Use paid and SEO data to help your AI strategies.
- Create career flexibility across channels.
- Turn organic search, AI, and social traffic into a strategy better than "ranking in ChatGPT".
9:30 AM - 10:20 AM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
10:20 AM - 10:50 AM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
The end of SEO as we know it
The end of SEO as we know it
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Michael King, Founder/CEO, iPullRank
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Michael King
An artist and a technologist, all rolled into one, Michael King recently founded boutique digital marketing agency, iPullRank. Mike consults with companies all over the world, including brands ranging from SAP, American Express, HSBC, SanDisk, General Mills, and FTD, to a laundry list of promising startups and small businesses. Mike has held previous roles as Marketing Director, Developer, and tactical SEO at multi-national agencies such as Publicis Modem and Razorfish. Effortlessly leaning on his background as an independent hiphop musician, Mike King is a dynamic speaker who is called upon to contribute to conferences and blogs all over the world.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
The end of SEO as we know it
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
10:20 AM - 10:50 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
The rise of generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), Google core updates, and AI Overviews have fundamentally reshaped search. As AI-generated content proliferates, Google faces a core challenge: It cannot reliably detect AI-generated content at scale. To adapt, SEO is no longer just about optimization... it’s about Relevance Engineering: structuring content ecosystems that align with AI-driven ranking mechanisms.
Join Mike King, Founder and CEO of iPullRank, to explore the implications of these seismic shifts, including how AI-driven search experiences change content discovery, how Google infers the value of content by analyzing search refinements, what strategies brands must adopt to stay relevant in AI-curated search experiences, and much more.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Understand the challenges and opportunities of AI-driven search disruption.
- Move beyond traditional SEO tactics and embrace Relevance Engineering.
- Ensure your site remains discoverable, authoritative, and indispensable in this new era of SEO.
TRACK
PPC
Advanced AI strategies for paid search creative
Advanced AI strategies for paid search creative
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Amy Hebdon, Founder & Managing Director, Paid Search Magic
Moderator:
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Amy Hebdon
Founder & Managing Director, Paid Search Magic
Amy Hebdon is the founder of Google Premier Partner agency Paid Search Magic. She is a top Google Ads conversion expert & paid search coach with over 20 years of hands-on experience, and has been named one of the Top PPC Experts by PPC Hero and Marketing O'Clock. Her PPC marketing experience and insights make her a welcomed contributor to Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, PPC Hero, CXL, Copyhackers, Supermetrics and Unbounce. She co-hosts the free Facebook group Google Ads for Savvy Digital Marketers.
Moderator
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Advanced AI strategies for paid search creative
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
10:20 AM - 10:50 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
AI promises instant and effortless ad creative. But how do you create messaging and visuals that actually work within real-world constraints?
Join Amy Hebdon, founder of Paid Search Magic, to learn how to effectively use AI for creative development, even when facing limited resources, unclear objectives, unwanted AI outputs, and stakeholder pushback.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Create high-impact creative with AI tools and structured prompts that align with business and conversion goals.
- Bridge the gap between AI capabilities and business realities to secure stakeholder buy-in and drive measurable results.
- Apply proven frameworks that make AI-assisted creative strategic, conversion-focused, and ROI-positive.
10:50 AM - 11:20 AM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
11:20 AM - 11:50 AM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Google algorithm updates in 2025: How to deal with relentless rank volatility
Google algorithm updates in 2025: How to deal with relentless rank volatility
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Mordy Oberstein, Founder, Unify Brand Marketing
Moderator:
Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Mordy Oberstein
Founder, Unify Brand Marketing
Mordy is the founder of Unify, a brand marketing consultancy. He's also a communications advisor for Semrush. Renowned for his history of repositioning brands successfully, Mordy is also the author of numerous SEO studies, a frequent conference speaker, and a marketing podcast guest and host.
Moderator
Barry Schwartz
SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick sells custom web software including advanced e-commerce, custom content management systems, social networking sites, CRM applications, custom web-based business software, iPhone applications and much more.
Barry Schwartz is the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and has covered search for over 20 years. Barry is also the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Barry hosts the Search Marketing Expo in Israel and is a speaker, moderator and coordinator at many search marketing conferences, including Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, La Red Innova Madrid, Spain, PubCon and many other marketing and technology events.
Barry is always at the forefront of the latest news and trends in search. He was also the former News Editor at Search Engine Watch and is a moderator at several search marketing forums. Barry has and currently provided an advisory role for Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft's Bing, and several other Internet companies and many startups. In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land and in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here. Please also see my writer disclosures and disclaimers page. Barry graduated from the City University of New York (Baruch College) in 2002, with Summa Cum Laude honors. Schwartz received several honors while in university, including Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honor Society.
He, his wife and children live in the New York area. Barry is often quoted and interviewed in publications such as Forbes, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today BusinessWeek, News.com, Publish and many more. He has appeared on primetime TV, specifically NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to talk about Google Instant and on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in regards to mobile apps. Barry has also made multiple appearances on the TWiT network shows This Week in Google and Tech News Today. He has over a decade of hands-on experience in web strategy, marketing and business optimization.
Google algorithm updates in 2025: How to deal with relentless rank volatility
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
11:20 AM - 11:50 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Google search results are more volatile than ever. But why is it happening? And what does it say about the entire web ecosystem?
The answer might surprise you. When it comes to SEO in 2025, you need to know what to do when everything around you seems to be collapsing in on itself.
Join Mordy Oberstein, Founder of Unify Brand Marketing, as he explains today's seemingly never-ending rank volatility, what Google says you should do about it, and what you really should do instead (hint: you probably won't be happy about it).
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Diagnose what's happening when Google's search ranking volatility impacts you.
- Think about "rankings" in a more practical way moving forward.
- Develop an approach to handle the evolution of the web.
TRACK
PPC
Advanced PMax strategies that unlock sky-high ROI
Advanced PMax strategies that unlock sky-high ROI
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Navah Hopkins, Evangelist, Optmyzr
Moderator:
Brad Geddes, Co-Founder, Adalysis
Speaker
Navah Hopkins
A veteran of the digital marketing industry, Brand Evangelist for Optmyzr, and "Top 25 PPC Expert," Navah Hopkins began as an SEO in 2008, transitioning to PPC in 2012. Throughout her career, Navah makes a point to give back and loves sharing lessons learned on the international speaking circuit as well as local universities. She is a frequent contributor to several industry publications and in 2019, she became a founding member of the Paid Search Association.
Moderator
Brad Geddes
Brad Geddes has been involved in PPC since 1998. He is a co-founder of AdAlysis, a PPC recommendation engine. Brad is the author of Advanced Google AdWords, the most advanced book ever written about Google's advertising program. Brad has worked with many of the world's leading companies in managing and perfecting their PPC management and workflows. One of his trademarks has been demystifying the complicated aspects of SEM. Not one to hold secrets, Brad prefers to educate marketers on the various aspects of crafting successful marketing campaigns to ensure the success for all parties involved.
Advanced PMax strategies that unlock sky-high ROI
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
11:20 AM - 11:50 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Performance Max (PMax) has often been referred to as the lazy man's campaign because all you need to do is turn it on, upload some creatives, and you're done. Yes, you can do that... but you'll end up average at best. There are many more subtle yet crucially important controls at your fingertips with this campaign type... it's up to you to use them (if you know how).
Join Navah Hopkins, Brand Evangelist at Optmyzr, for an honest assessment of what you can do, whether you're in-house or agency, to make the most of PMax without compromising your overall account structure or strategy.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Calculate the ROI on completing specific tasks within PMax, including audience signals and search themes.
- Lean into AI creative based on what industry you're in and how much (if any) data is available in your feed.
- Implement strategies to get your siloed campaigns to work collaboratively with PMax.
11:50 AM - 1:00 PM ET
Lunch & Expo Hall Time
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Google, E-E-A-T, and brand: Focusing on signals that actually fuel SEO growth
Google, E-E-A-T, and brand: Focusing on signals that actually fuel SEO growth
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Eric Enge, President, Pilot Holding
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Eric Enge
Eric Enge has been speaking about digital marketing for more than two decades. He has keynoted many conferences including Pubcon Las Vegas, State of Search in Dallas, and Next10x. Eric is lead co-author of The Art of SEO, and also provides content to sites such as Search Engine Land, and Moz. Eric is particularly well known for the research that he publishes on key aspects of search. Eric was named 2018 Search Personality of the Year at the Drum Search Awards, 2016 Search Marketer of the Year (Male) at the Landys, and 2016 Search Personality of the Year at the US Search Awards, and Stone Temple Consulting was also named Best Large SEO Agency of the Year at the US Search Awards.
Eric is President of Pilot Holding, and was the Founder and CEO of Stone Temple Consulting (STC), a 70+ person digital marketing agency based in Massachusetts. Stone Temple was acquired by Perficient in 2018 where Eric worked for three years, and with which Eric continues to work with on many projects.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
Google, E-E-A-T, and brand: Focusing on signals that actually fuel SEO growth
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Everywhere you turn, people debate the value of brand and E-E-A-T (expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). But can brand and E-E-A-T really move the needle for SEO? With so much noise, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or skeptical. The real question is: How do you turn these abstract concepts into real SEO growth?
Join Eric Enge, President of Pilot Holding, as he cuts through the confusion, showing you exactly how Google evaluates brand and E-E-A-T based on DOJ testimony, the API leak, and other recent ranking system revelations.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Stop wasting time on tactics that have little or no value.
- Focus branding efforts in areas that Google actively measures.
- Understand the truth of E-E-A-T and concentrate your efforts in ways that matter to users.
TRACK
PPC
What's new with Microsoft? A candid Q&A
What's new with Microsoft? A candid Q&A
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Pedro Bojikian, Director of Product Marketing, Microsoft
Speaker
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Speaker
Pedro Bojikian
Director of Product Marketing, Microsoft
Pedro, Director of Product Marketing at Microsoft Advertising in Redmond, United States, leads product positioning, customer listening, and go-to-market strategies for advertising products in the field of generative AI. With over 20 years of experience in the technology industry, Pedro previously worked on the buying side, managing marketing campaigns and agency partnerships for both consumer and B2B services before joining Microsoft Advertising. His mission is to connect brands with the innovation they need to excel.
What's new with Microsoft? A candid Q&A
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Stay tuned for details about this session!
1:30 PM - 2:00 PM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Smarter crawling and indexing: Technical solutions to boost visibility
Smarter crawling and indexing: Technical solutions to boost visibility
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Jes Scholz, Growth Marketing Consultant, Jes Scholz Consulting
Moderator:
Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Jes Scholz
Growth Marketing Consultant, Jes Scholz Consulting
Jes Scholz is an growth marketing consultant and SEO futurist. She delivers award-winning audience development strategies focused on brand entity optimisation, smart content distribution and data-driven marketing from Sydney to enterprise businesses worldwide.
Moderator
Barry Schwartz
SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick sells custom web software including advanced e-commerce, custom content management systems, social networking sites, CRM applications, custom web-based business software, iPhone applications and much more.
Barry Schwartz is the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and has covered search for over 20 years. Barry is also the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Barry hosts the Search Marketing Expo in Israel and is a speaker, moderator and coordinator at many search marketing conferences, including Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, La Red Innova Madrid, Spain, PubCon and many other marketing and technology events.
Barry is always at the forefront of the latest news and trends in search. He was also the former News Editor at Search Engine Watch and is a moderator at several search marketing forums. Barry has and currently provided an advisory role for Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft's Bing, and several other Internet companies and many startups. In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land and in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here. Please also see my writer disclosures and disclaimers page. Barry graduated from the City University of New York (Baruch College) in 2002, with Summa Cum Laude honors. Schwartz received several honors while in university, including Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honor Society.
He, his wife and children live in the New York area. Barry is often quoted and interviewed in publications such as Forbes, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today BusinessWeek, News.com, Publish and many more. He has appeared on primetime TV, specifically NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to talk about Google Instant and on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in regards to mobile apps. Barry has also made multiple appearances on the TWiT network shows This Week in Google and Tech News Today. He has over a decade of hands-on experience in web strategy, marketing and business optimization.
Smarter crawling and indexing: Technical solutions to boost visibility
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
There is one constant in SEO: Content can't compete for visibility until it is indexed. This is a huge issue because indexing is becoming increasingly difficult. There is more content for bots to crawl. It's more expensive to index content due to the needs of rendering and LLMs. And, once content is indexed, there's no guarantee it will stay that way. But with the right tech setup, your brand can break through.
Join Jes Scholz, a growth marketing consultant and SEO futurist, as she shares insights into indexing optimization strategies that actually work.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Understand the impact of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) on indexing strategy.
- Implement impactful crawling and indexing optimizations.
- Know which indexing KPIs you need to be tracking.
TRACK
PPC
Advanced audience targeting strategies in Google Ads
Advanced audience targeting strategies in Google Ads
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach, Learn with Jyll
Moderator:
Greg Finn, CMO, Cypress North
Speaker
Jyll Saskin Gales
Google Ads Coach, Learn with Jyll
Jyll Saskin Gales is a Google Ads coach, teacher and consultant. She advises everyone from startups and small business owners to marketing agencies and Fortune 100 companies, helping them get the most profitable return on investment from their marketing efforts. Jyll currently teaches at Google for Startups, Camp Tech, Jelly Academy, boutique agencies, Fortune 100 companies and her own “Inside Google Ads” and “Google Ads for Beginners” courses. She hosts the Inside Google Ads podcast, and is TikTok’s resident @the_google_pro with 63,000 followers. Jyll worked at Google for 6 years and has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Advanced audience targeting strategies in Google Ads
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Is your Google Ads strategy feeling a little dusty? The rules have changed, and you've got to modernize your approach to keep up. Keywords don’t work the way they used to. Third-party cookies have depreciated in value. Audience targeting features like combined segments are being silently deprecated. And every new announcement from Google seems to highlight signals rather than targeting. What's a PPC practitioner to do?
Join Jyll Saskin Gales, Google Ads Coach and ex-Googler, for actionable audience strategies you can implement today to effectively reach your target customers and drive higher conversion rates from your Google Ads campaigns. We're leaving basics behind, focusing instead on how you can stack, sculpt, and segment your way to finding your most profitable audience.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Understand all of the audience targeting capabilities available in Google Ads in 2025.
- Leverage Search, Demand Gen, PMax, and more in new, advanced ways.
- Build an audience targeting strategy that will leave your competitors in the dust.
TRACK
Theater
Clinic: How to get your content in AI Overviews
Clinic: How to get your content in AI Overviews
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Carolyn Shelby, Principal SEO, Yoast
Speaker
Carolyn Shelby
Carolyn Shelby has been developing and marketing Internet technologies since 1994, when she co-founded a large regional Internet Service Provider. A recognized expert in technical, news, and enterprise SEO, she has spent over two decades helping brands integrate SEO into their core digital strategies.
Carolyn is currently the Principal SEO at Yoast, where she focuses on AI-driven search, technical SEO, and audience growth strategies. She is a sought-after SEO advisor, speaker, and consultant, guiding businesses through the evolving landscape of AI-powered search. Previously, she led news and technical SEO at ESPN, the Chicago Tribune, and the LA Times, driving audience expansion across major digital media platforms.
Clinic: How to get your content in AI Overviews
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
2:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Worried about declining organic traffic and click-through rates? Wondering how you can get your content featured in Google's AI Overviews?
Join this fun and informative clinic where Carolyn Shelby, Principal SEO at Yoast, will demonstrate how you can optimize content, structure data, and adjust your strategies for AI-driven search experiences. You can also volunteer your site for a live audit! Don't want to volunteer? Sit back and soak up the practical tactics and tips that you can apply to your own content.
After this clinic, you’ll be able to:
- Ensure your SEO efforts stay ahead of AI search evolution.
- Optimize content to be picked up by AI Overviews.
- Implement examples from the live audits into your own content strategy.
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
How Google ranks content in 2025: What you need to know
How Google ranks content in 2025: What you need to know
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Dawn Anderson, Managing Director, Bertey
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Dawn Anderson
Dawn Anderson is the founder of international SEO consultancy and digital marketing agency, Bertey Ltd. Dawn is also a lecturer on digital marketing strategy, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and marketing analytics at Manchester Metropolitan University. Dawn lectures digital marketing strategy students and International Fashion Promotion students at the undergraduate level. She also supervises postgraduate students undertaking dissertations for their Master of Science (MSc) in Digital Marketing Strategy at Manchester Metropolitan University.
Dawn is also an international conference speaker (UK, US, AUS, IT, FR, ES), covering advanced technical SEO and digital marketing topics. Dawn speaks at some of the leading global search marketing conferences, including Pubcon (Las Vegas and Florida), SASCON, Brighton SEO, SMX (London (UK) and San Jose (US), MozCon (US) and State of Search (US). She has been in SEO for 13+ years and works with leading brands providing digital marketing and SEO strategy across many sectors.
Dawn has worked with brands from niches which include FMCG, financial services, sports betting, e-commerce, lead generation, travel, lead generation and membership subscription websites, home insurance, fashion, home and garden retailers, furniture retailers, luxury drinks, hotels, automotive, consumer insights, and more. She is also a Northern Digital, UK, EU, MENA and US Search Awards Judge as well as a UK Content Marketing Awards Judge and UK Biddable Media Judge. Dawn is qualified to Masters Level in digital marketing strategy with both a Pg Dip DigM (Post Graduate Diploma) (IDM) and a Master of Science (MSc) in (Digital Marketing Strategy).
Dawn is a Fellow of The Institute of Digital Marketing (FIDM) and a Member of The British Computing Society (MBCS). She also contributes to leading search marketing industry publications such as Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, The SEMPost, State of Digital, and Smart Insights. In addition to providing ongoing SEO consultancy and support for well-known brands, enterprise and startups, Dawn also undertakes advanced forensic technical SEO audits, leaving no stone unturned. She has researched and presented at many conferences on advanced technical SEO topics and digital marketing strategy. Dawn also contributes regularly with webinars on search marketing.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
How Google ranks content in 2025: What you need to know
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Stay tuned for details about this eye-opening session!
TRACK
PPC
Advanced Google Ads strategies for successful lead generation
Advanced Google Ads strategies for successful lead generation
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Christine Zirnheld, Digital Marketing Manager, Cypress North
Moderator:
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Christine Zirnheld
Digital Marketing Manager, Cypress North
Christine Zirnheld (AKA Shep) is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Cypress North, specializing in B2B advertising. Christine also hosts Marketing O'Clock, a weekly digital marketing news podcast, where she covers the latest PPC news and updates with plenty of rants, sass, and eye rolls.
Moderator
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Advanced Google Ads strategies for successful lead generation
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Google Ads is constantly evolving, which creates new challenges and opportunities for lead generation accounts. With more automation, shifting campaign dynamics, and less direct control over data, you must rethink your strategies to drive high-quality leads efficiently.
Join Christine Zirnheld, Digital Marketing Manager at Cypress North, as she dives deep into advanced Google Ads strategies tailored specifically for lead-generation accounts. You'll learn how to optimize campaigns, leverage automation effectively, and structure accounts for long-term success.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Use conversion goals to optimize for qualified leads.
- Leverage smart bid strategies for lead gen.
- Develop effective asset groups and creative approaches.
- Structure campaigns for better performance and scalability.
- Implement modern tactics for successful paid search campaigns.
- Apply Performance Max strategies tailored for lead gen.
3:30 PM - 4:00 PM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Maximizing visibility in Google AI Overviews
Maximizing visibility in Google AI Overviews
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Bart Goralewicz, Founder & Head of SEO, Onely LLC
Moderator:
Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Bart Goralewicz
Founder & Head of SEO, Onely LLC
Bartosz Goralewicz is a Founder & Head of SEO at Onely and Co-founder of ZipTie.dev He has been a staple in the SEO industry over the last decade as both the founder of Onely and a thought leader – especially in JavaScript SEO. Onely’s specialized team works with Fortune 100 companies and other major international brands while continuing to push the envelope in Technical SEO.
Moderator
Barry Schwartz
SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick sells custom web software including advanced e-commerce, custom content management systems, social networking sites, CRM applications, custom web-based business software, iPhone applications and much more.
Barry Schwartz is the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and has covered search for over 20 years. Barry is also the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Barry hosts the Search Marketing Expo in Israel and is a speaker, moderator and coordinator at many search marketing conferences, including Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, La Red Innova Madrid, Spain, PubCon and many other marketing and technology events.
Barry is always at the forefront of the latest news and trends in search. He was also the former News Editor at Search Engine Watch and is a moderator at several search marketing forums. Barry has and currently provided an advisory role for Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft's Bing, and several other Internet companies and many startups. In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land and in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here. Please also see my writer disclosures and disclaimers page. Barry graduated from the City University of New York (Baruch College) in 2002, with Summa Cum Laude honors. Schwartz received several honors while in university, including Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honor Society.
He, his wife and children live in the New York area. Barry is often quoted and interviewed in publications such as Forbes, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today BusinessWeek, News.com, Publish and many more. He has appeared on primetime TV, specifically NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to talk about Google Instant and on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in regards to mobile apps. Barry has also made multiple appearances on the TWiT network shows This Week in Google and Tech News Today. He has over a decade of hands-on experience in web strategy, marketing and business optimization.
Maximizing visibility in Google AI Overviews
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Stay tuned for details about this session!
TRACK
PPC
Managing PPC workflow in an AI era
Managing PPC workflow in an AI era
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Brad Geddes, Co-Founder, Adalysis
Moderator:
Greg Finn, CMO, Cypress North
Speaker
Brad Geddes
Brad Geddes has been involved in PPC since 1998. He is a co-founder of AdAlysis, a PPC recommendation engine. Brad is the author of Advanced Google AdWords, the most advanced book ever written about Google's advertising program. Brad has worked with many of the world's leading companies in managing and perfecting their PPC management and workflows. One of his trademarks has been demystifying the complicated aspects of SEM. Not one to hold secrets, Brad prefers to educate marketers on the various aspects of crafting successful marketing campaigns to ensure the success for all parties involved.
Managing PPC workflow in an AI era
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Once upon a time, in a land of PPC campaign maintenance, your calendar and project management system told you what you needed to accomplish. Over the years, we've transitioned to a recommendation-based management style. But not all recommendations are created equally, leaving many essential tasks forgotten.
Join Brad Geddes, Co-Founder of Adalysis, to learn how to merge these approaches while also adding KPI monitoring and diagnosis. Using this new PPC workflow system, you can rest assured your account is being properly monitored and optimized on a continuous basis.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Better evaluate recommendations
- Be on the lookout for the essential tasks recommendations tend to ignore
- Implement the workflow needed for proper account management
- Monitor and diagnose KPI changes
TRACK
Theater
Clinic: How to optimize your landing pages and convert more customers
Clinic: How to optimize your landing pages and convert more customers
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Brian Massey, Conversion Scientist™, Conversion Sciences LLC
Speaker
Brian Massey
Conversion Scientist™, Conversion Sciences LLC
Brian Massey is the founder of Conversion Sciences LLC and author of the book Your Customer Creation Equation. His rare combination of interests and experience was developed over 30 years as a computer programmer, entrepreneur, corporate marketer, international speaker, and writer. Founded in 2007, Conversion Sciences helps businesses transform their sites through a steady diet of visitor profiling, purposeful content, analytics, and AB testing. Massey has worked with hundreds of companies to improve their online business. He is a sought-after speaker, presenting at IBM, Inbound, LeadsCon, Content Marketing World, Affiliate Summit, and others. He has written for online publications including ClickZ, Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. Massey is the host of the Intended Consequences podcast.
Clinic: How to optimize your landing pages and convert more customers
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Having high-quality, landing pages optimized for conversion is critical to the success of any ad campaign. But even if you feel your landing pages are converting customers well, there’s always elements to test and things to improve.
Join Brian Massey, Managing Partner of Conversion Sciences, for this engaging clinic -- where you can volunteer your landing page for a live audit (and ask your burning landing page and conversation optimization questions along the way!). Don't want to volunteer? Sit back and soak up the practical tactics and tips that you can apply to your own assets.
After this clinic, you'll be able to:
- Understand which elements on a landing page to test.
- Break down the five categories of hypotheses.
- Use AI to improve your landing page content.
- Identify data you should track to evaluate landing pages.
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM ET
🥂 Networking Happy Hour: Mix and mingle with exhibitors, attendees, and speakers.
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
Community Meetups
TRACK
Networking
SEO Meetup
SEO Meetup
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
Speaker
Barry Schwartz
SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick sells custom web software including advanced e-commerce, custom content management systems, social networking sites, CRM applications, custom web-based business software, iPhone applications and much more.
Barry Schwartz is the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and has covered search for over 20 years. Barry is also the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Barry hosts the Search Marketing Expo in Israel and is a speaker, moderator and coordinator at many search marketing conferences, including Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, La Red Innova Madrid, Spain, PubCon and many other marketing and technology events.
Barry is always at the forefront of the latest news and trends in search. He was also the former News Editor at Search Engine Watch and is a moderator at several search marketing forums. Barry has and currently provided an advisory role for Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft's Bing, and several other Internet companies and many startups. In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land and in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here. Please also see my writer disclosures and disclaimers page. Barry graduated from the City University of New York (Baruch College) in 2002, with Summa Cum Laude honors. Schwartz received several honors while in university, including Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honor Society.
He, his wife and children live in the New York area. Barry is often quoted and interviewed in publications such as Forbes, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today BusinessWeek, News.com, Publish and many more. He has appeared on primetime TV, specifically NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to talk about Google Instant and on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in regards to mobile apps. Barry has also made multiple appearances on the TWiT network shows This Week in Google and Tech News Today. He has over a decade of hands-on experience in web strategy, marketing and business optimization.
SEO Meetup
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas to this fun evening networking opportunity. You'll join Search Engine Land's Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, and Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director - plus your SEO peers - for a casual chat about all-things SEO.
TRACK
Networking
PPC Meetup
PPC Meetup
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
PPC Meetup
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Bring your questions, concerns, and ideas to this fun evening networking opportunity. You'll join Search Engine Land's Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor - plus your paid search peers - for a casual chat about all-things PPC.
TRACK
Networking
Build It! with Dave Davies
Build It! with Dave Davies
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Dave Davies, Head of SEO, Weights & Biases
Speaker
Dave Davies
Dave Davies is the Head of SEO at Weights & Biases, a company that builds the platform that AI trains with. He's specifically passionate about technical SEO, content strategy, and not surprisingly - AI innovation. Prior to joining Weights & Biases, Dave co-founded and ran Beanstalk Internet Marketing for 17 years with his wife Mary, honing a passion for the ever-evolving world of SEO.
As an author for Search Engine Land and other top industry publications, and a seasoned speaker from SMX Advanced to SMX London, Dave brings over 25 years of experience to his work. His career has been driven by a relentless curiosity about the future of search: How does AI impact search - and is it even search anymore? What are the machines really looking for? How can AI, especially agentic AI, be harnessed to boost productivity and provide deep insights into digital marketing? What must SEOs and marketers do to thrive in this brave new world?
In his 2025 SMX Advanced keynote, Dave will explore these questions with you, covering how agentic AI is transforming the search landscape and what that means for the future of SEO.
Build It! with Dave Davies
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
You're already using ChatGPT for content creation and ideation - but are you harnessing its full potential?
Join our hackathon - led by Dave Davies - to explore advanced techniques using ChatGPT Plus features like Custom GPTs and Projects. It's time to collaborate with fellow creators, build innovative tools, and turn your best ideas into reality.
Bring your creativity, and let's build something amazing together!
TRACK
Networking
Magic the Gathering Commander game night
Magic the Gathering Commander game night
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Navah Hopkins, Evangelist, Optmyzr
Marc Sirkin, CEO, Third Door Media, Third Door Media
Speaker
Navah Hopkins
A veteran of the digital marketing industry, Brand Evangelist for Optmyzr, and "Top 25 PPC Expert," Navah Hopkins began as an SEO in 2008, transitioning to PPC in 2012. Throughout her career, Navah makes a point to give back and loves sharing lessons learned on the international speaking circuit as well as local universities. She is a frequent contributor to several industry publications and in 2019, she became a founding member of the Paid Search Association.
Speaker
Marc Sirkin
CEO, Third Door Media, Third Door Media
Marc Sirkin serves as Third Door Media's CEO. He is a 20+ year digital marketer with a proven track record of revenue & digital fundraising growth. He's led high-growth change at a wide range of organizations, helping companies ranging from startups to large enterprises.
Magic the Gathering Commander game night
Thursday — June 12th, 2025
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Ready to tap mana and make connections? Join Navah Hopkins and Marc Sirkin for an SMX-flavored Magic the Gathering Commander night worth drawing for. Bring your favorite casual decks and join us. Beginners welcome!
Friday — June 13th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
Networking
TRACK
Networking
Morning harbor run
Morning harbor run
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Nick Eubanks, VP of Owned Media, Semrush
Speaker
Nick Eubanks
Nick Eubanks serves as Vice President of Owned Media at Semrush, bringing his passion for growing traffic and conversions to growth-minded companies. His approach combines creativity with a strong focus on revenue generation, and he particularly enjoys designing new products and sharing successes with fellow entrepreneurs.
Morning harbor run
Friday — June 13th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Join Nick Eubanks, VP of Owned Media at Semrush, for another spirited scenic run along the beautiful Boston harbor!
TRACK
Networking
Morning mindfulness
Morning mindfulness
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Morning mindfulness
Friday — June 13th, 2025
6:00 AM - 7:00 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Ready your body, mind, and soul for another rewarding day of learning. Stay tuned for more details!
7:30 AM - 9:00 AM ET
Breakfast
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET
Keynotes
TRACK
Keynote
Agents of change: SEO in the era of agentic AI
Agents of change: SEO in the era of agentic AI
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Dave Davies, Head of SEO, Weights & Biases
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Dave Davies
Dave Davies is the Head of SEO at Weights & Biases, a company that builds the platform that AI trains with. He's specifically passionate about technical SEO, content strategy, and not surprisingly - AI innovation. Prior to joining Weights & Biases, Dave co-founded and ran Beanstalk Internet Marketing for 17 years with his wife Mary, honing a passion for the ever-evolving world of SEO.
As an author for Search Engine Land and other top industry publications, and a seasoned speaker from SMX Advanced to SMX London, Dave brings over 25 years of experience to his work. His career has been driven by a relentless curiosity about the future of search: How does AI impact search - and is it even search anymore? What are the machines really looking for? How can AI, especially agentic AI, be harnessed to boost productivity and provide deep insights into digital marketing? What must SEOs and marketers do to thrive in this brave new world?
In his 2025 SMX Advanced keynote, Dave will explore these questions with you, covering how agentic AI is transforming the search landscape and what that means for the future of SEO.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
Agents of change: SEO in the era of agentic AI
Friday — June 13th, 2025
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
As search evolves, so do the tools that drive it. Traditional SEO tools are giving way to dynamic, self-adjusting systems that learn and adapt in real-time.
Join Dave Davies, Head of SEO at Weights & Biases and a veteran digital marketer, for his eye-opening keynote about how agentic AI can transform your SEO strategy for today's world – and how you can harness agents to collect data, monitor environments, respond automatically, and so much more.
You'll learn how search engines are integrating agentic AI into their core functions, the massive benefits this brings, and the challenges that SEOs and marketers must navigate in this brave new landscape. Agentic AI is not only reshaping search and generative engines but redefining the rules of engagement for SEOs and marketers. Are you ready?
After this keynote, you'll be ready to:
- Appreciate the evolving role of agents within search engines and generative models.
- Identify opportunities to use AI agents to maintain a competitive edge.
- Gain insights into the future of search and how proactive adaptation can drive success.
- Recognize how the integration of agentic AI in search engines impacts marketing strategies and consumer engagement.
TRACK
Keynote
Navigating AI, data, and control in Google Ads: A keynote conversion with Google’s Ginny Marvin
Navigating AI, data, and control in Google Ads: A keynote conversion with Google’s Ginny Marvin
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Ginny Marvin, Ads Product Liaison, Google
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Ginny Marvin
As Google's Ads Product Liaison, Ginny Marvin helps connect marketers and Google's ads teams. She regularly engages with the marketing community to answer questions about how ads products and policies work and brings marketer's insights and perspectives back into Google. As former Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land, Ginny covered the industry for many years. She got her start in search and digital advertising in 2005 and has worked as a consultant and held both in-house and agency management roles. You can find her on Twitter at @AdsLiaison.
Speaker
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Navigating AI, data, and control in Google Ads: A keynote conversion with Google’s Ginny Marvin
Friday — June 13th, 2025
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
AI is transforming paid search advertising, but some marketing fundamentals remain the same.
Join Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land, as she shares a candid conversation with Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison, that challenges assumptions and provides practical strategies for navigating modern ad systems.
Ginny and Anu will discuss ways AI is changing how marketers drive business outcomes, the interplay between performance and branding to influence customer journeys, and making the most of your data in today’s measurement landscape.
You'll learn about:
- The AI paradox: While AI reshapes how we optimize campaigns, core marketing principles remain unchanged.
- Control vs. efficiency: How do advertisers strike the right balance?
- Measurement and data: Navigating confidential matching, enhanced conversions, and AI’s role in filling data gaps.
- Lead generation in the AI era: What lead gen advertisers need to know to stay ahead.
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Next-level strategies for AI content
Next-level strategies for AI content
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communications, Wix.com
Moderator:
Barry Schwartz, SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Crystal Carter
Head of SEO Communications, Wix.com
Crystal Carter is the Head of SEO Communications at Wix and an SEO & Digital Marketing professional with over 15 years of experience. Her global business clients have included Disney, McDonalds, TripAdvisor, and Tomy. An avid SEO Communicator, she writes, hosts SEO webinars and podcasts and her work has been featured at Google Search Central, BrightonSEO, Moz, Lumar, Semrush, and more.
Moderator
Barry Schwartz
SEO Editor, Search Engine Land
Barry Schwartz is the CEO of RustyBrick, a New York Web service firm specializing in customized online technology that helps companies decrease costs and increase sales. RustyBrick sells custom web software including advanced e-commerce, custom content management systems, social networking sites, CRM applications, custom web-based business software, iPhone applications and much more.
Barry Schwartz is the founder of the Search Engine Roundtable and has covered search for over 20 years. Barry is also the News Editor at Search Engine Land. Barry hosts the Search Marketing Expo in Israel and is a speaker, moderator and coordinator at many search marketing conferences, including Search Marketing Expo, Search Engine Strategies, La Red Innova Madrid, Spain, PubCon and many other marketing and technology events.
Barry is always at the forefront of the latest news and trends in search. He was also the former News Editor at Search Engine Watch and is a moderator at several search marketing forums. Barry has and currently provided an advisory role for Google, Yahoo! Search, Microsoft's Bing, and several other Internet companies and many startups. In 2019, Barry was awarded the Outstanding Community Services Award from Search Engine Land and in 2018 he was awarded the US Search Awards the "US Search Personality Of The Year," you can learn more over here. Please also see my writer disclosures and disclaimers page. Barry graduated from the City University of New York (Baruch College) in 2002, with Summa Cum Laude honors. Schwartz received several honors while in university, including Beta Gamma Sigma and the Golden Key International Honor Society.
He, his wife and children live in the New York area. Barry is often quoted and interviewed in publications such as Forbes, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Bloomberg, USA Today BusinessWeek, News.com, Publish and many more. He has appeared on primetime TV, specifically NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams to talk about Google Instant and on CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood in regards to mobile apps. Barry has also made multiple appearances on the TWiT network shows This Week in Google and Tech News Today. He has over a decade of hands-on experience in web strategy, marketing and business optimization.
Next-level strategies for AI content
Friday — June 13th, 2025
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM ET
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Session overview
Stay tuned for details about this session!
TRACK
PPC
PMax for ecommerce: Advanced techniques to try today
PMax for ecommerce: Advanced techniques to try today
Friday — June 13th, 2025
If your calendar provider is not listed,
please add the session details manually.
Mike Ryan, Head of Ecommerce Insights, Smarter Ecommerce GmbH (smec)
Moderator:
Greg Finn, CMO, Cypress North
Speaker
Mike Ryan
Head of Ecommerce Insights, Smarter Ecommerce GmbH (smec)
Mike Ryan combines years of retail operations experience with domain expertise in digital marketing. He delivers high-relevance insights with a bias toward business outcomes rather than just campaign outcomes. Mike has additional experience in data visualization, automation technology, and leading innovation projects.
He has spoken at numerous industry conferences and has also been featured by Search Engine Land, AdExchanger, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Business Insider. Marketing O’Clock recognized him as the #1 Top Follow for Shopping & Performance Max in 2023 and 2022. He hosts a podcast called Growing Ecommerce.
PMax for ecommerce: Advanced techniques to try today
Friday — June 13th, 2025
10:15 AM - 10:45 AM ET
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Session overview
Stay tuned for details about this session!
10:45 AM - 11:15 AM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
How AI is reshaping SEO: Challenges, opportunities, and brand strategies for 2025
How AI is reshaping SEO: Challenges, opportunities, and brand strategies for 2025
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Kelsey Libert, Co-Founder, Fractl
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Kelsey Libert
Kelsey Libert co-founded Fractl in 2012, transforming it into a top-ranked content marketing agency recognized by the Clutch Leaders Matrix, which evaluates over 30,000 firms worldwide. Under Kelsey's leadership, Fractl's Digital PR team was recognized as BuzzStream’s “Top 5%: Most Effective Accounts” for Digital PR. Kelsey has published research on industry best practices in Harvard Business Review, Inc, Entrepreneur, Search Engine Land, and more, in addition to speaking at US-based MozCon and Pubcon and global conferences. At Fractl, Kelsey's overseen the creative strategy and PR efforts on over 5,000 campaigns for Fortune 500 brands and SMBs including multi-year contracts with Adobe, Upwork, Paychex, and more. Fractl is renowned for content strategies that drive high-authority earned media, trust signals, thought leadership, domain rankings, brand engagement, qualified organic traffic, and a bottom-line impact.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
How AI is reshaping SEO: Challenges, opportunities, and brand strategies for 2025
Friday — June 13th, 2025
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM ET
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Session overview
Generative search is transforming how users discover and engage with brands. In this exclusive session, SMX Advanced attendees will be the first to access a groundbreaking study from Search Engine Land and Fractl, revealing how consumers and marketers are adapting in the age of AI-driven search.
We’ll break down key industry trends, challenges, and opportunities, based on a fresh survey of hundreds of marketers. You'll learn how brands use AI-driven workflows across SEO, content, PR, and social strategies while mitigating risks and developing ethical standards. Find out how your marketing strategies should evolve, and ensure your brand remains relevant in the future of search.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Understand how consumer search habits are shifting across key demographics and how trust in AI-driven content is changing.
- Explore insights from a survey of hundreds of marketers on how AI tools are being integrated into marketing workflows and what early case studies reveal about their effectiveness.
- Discuss emerging industry standards around AI disclaimers and ethical considerations in AI-generated marketing.
- Know which websites are prioritized in LLM training sets, what it means for search visibility, and how to position your brand for AI-driven search results.
- Optimize AI-generated content, maintain brand visibility in AI-driven search, and balance automation with human expertise.
TRACK
PPC
What you need to know about YouTube Ads placements in 2025
What you need to know about YouTube Ads placements in 2025
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Cory Henke, CEO / Founder, Variable Media
Moderator:
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Cory Henke
With over 15 years of experience in digital marketing and a five-year-in-a-row speaker at Hero Conference, Cory Henke is no stranger to the importance of finding creative strategies for online engagement. He’s an expert in organic and paid advertising, specifically YouTube, which has helped advertisers scale through the 5-year-old ad agency Variable Media. He specializes in data visualization to help bring advertising data to life and provide immediate actionable results to clients and agencies.
Moderator
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
What you need to know about YouTube Ads placements in 2025
Friday — June 13th, 2025
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM ET
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Session overview
YouTube has made shifts to expand ad placements, each catering to different audience intent. We began with in-stream. Then Shorts came on the scene. But the most recent addition of in-feed, similar to the Meta in-feed placement, gives YouTube a unique advantage when comparing video across YouTube (Google Ads) competitors.
Join Cory Henke, CEO and Founder of Variable Media, as he shows you how to set up campaigns and testing to reach your target audience across three core placements. You'll get the full scoop on each placement type -- and why leveraging them in unison is critical to achieving a full-funnel YouTube campaign.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Strategically use a combination of YouTube’s in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts placements.
- Align ad creatives with audience intent for maximum impact.
- Optimize bidding and targeting strategies for different placements.
TRACK
Theater
Building better content through an aI-powered workflow
Building better content through an aI-powered workflow
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Bruce Clay, President, Bruce Clay, Inc.
Speaker
Bruce Clay
Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay, Inc., a global digital marketing company recognized as a worldwide leader in search marketing. Bruce began conducting SEO training in 1999, and since then more than 5,000 individuals have attended BCI’s courses internationally. Bruce wrote the first program for web page analysis, and today BCI’s proprietary SEOToolSet™ is in its sixth generation. Before founding BCI, Bruce had a long career as a technical executive with leading Silicon Valley firms. Bruce holds a BS in math and computer science and received his MBA from Pepperdine University. Bruce has authored many books, including “Search Engine Optimization All-in-One for Dummies” for Wiley. He has spoken at hundreds of marketing industry events, including Search Marketing Expo (SMX), Search Engine Strategies, WebmasterWorld, Affiliate Summit, Ungagged, PubCon and ad:Tech, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, PC Week, Wired Magazine and many other publications.
Building better content through an aI-powered workflow
Friday — June 13th, 2025
11:15 AM - 11:45 AM ET
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Session overview
The demand for quality content has never been greater. You need content that ranks and converts yesterday, putting the stress on content teams to increase output fast. Keeping up with production can be difficult, especially for small teams.
Fortunately, AI can be a life changer in the content development process – when it’s implemented properly.
Join SEO pioneer Bruce Clay, founder and president of Bruce Clay, Inc., as he demonstrates how you can build an AI-powered content workflow that will help you create better content faster.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Understand the journey of content creation, and where you and AI fit into it.
- Determine the tasks you should have AI do in your workflow – and the ones that still require human expertise.
- Balance AI efficiency with quality and brand consistency.
- Integrate AI into your workflow to streamline research, generate ideas and outlines, and produce content that your audience – and search engines – will love.
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
Measuring link relevance using vector embeddings and cosine similarity
Measuring link relevance using vector embeddings and cosine similarity
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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James Brockbank, Managing Director & Founder, Digitaloft
Moderator:
Eric Enge, President, Pilot Holding
Speaker
James Brockbank
Managing Director & Founder, Digitaloft
James Brockbank is the Managing Director & Founder at Digitaloft, a UK-based agency, and an experienced specialist in content-first SEO and digital PR.
With more than 14 years’ experience in SEO, a career spanning both the technical and creative sides of the industry, and having spent the last nine years growing an agency at the forefront of the SEO and digital PR space, James offers valuable insights into proven tactics as well as being an advocate for the importance of building a positive agency culture.
James has previously spoken at or written for events and publications including SMX, BrightonSEO, Pubcon, WordCamp, State of Search, Search Engine Journal and Semrush.
Moderator
Eric Enge
Eric Enge has been speaking about digital marketing for more than two decades. He has keynoted many conferences including Pubcon Las Vegas, State of Search in Dallas, and Next10x. Eric is lead co-author of The Art of SEO, and also provides content to sites such as Search Engine Land, and Moz. Eric is particularly well known for the research that he publishes on key aspects of search. Eric was named 2018 Search Personality of the Year at the Drum Search Awards, 2016 Search Marketer of the Year (Male) at the Landys, and 2016 Search Personality of the Year at the US Search Awards, and Stone Temple Consulting was also named Best Large SEO Agency of the Year at the US Search Awards.
Eric is President of Pilot Holding, and was the Founder and CEO of Stone Temple Consulting (STC), a 70+ person digital marketing agency based in Massachusetts. Stone Temple was acquired by Perficient in 2018 where Eric worked for three years, and with which Eric continues to work with on many projects.
Measuring link relevance using vector embeddings and cosine similarity
Friday — June 13th, 2025
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ET
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Session overview
We learned from last year's Google Search leak that links that aren't relevant are ignored, or at least down-weighted. So how do you measure link relevance in a way that's not just based on subjective opinion? The answer: Using vector embeddings and cosine similarity. In particular, two measures that were identified in the leak: pageEmbedding and siteEmbedding.
Join James Brockbank, Managing Director and Founder at Digitaloft, as he shares why relevance should be the most important link metric that SEOs care about -- and shows how to actually measure it using scripts run in Google Sheets.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Understand how Google analyzes link relevance based on an analysis of last year's documentation leak and various patents.
- Calculate link relevance using vector embeddings and cosine similarity, with a walkthrough on how to run this in Google Sheets.
- Use link relevance scores to assess link quality and leverage this as part of your own strategy.
TRACK
PPC
Integrated marketing in the AI era: How to align paid and organic for maximum impact
Integrated marketing in the AI era: How to align paid and organic for maximum impact
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Amanda Farley, VP of Growth, Aimclear
Moderator:
Brad Geddes, Co-Founder, Adalysis
Speaker
Amanda Farley
Amanda Farley is a marketer, performance strategist, and business success leader. She is VP of Growth at Aimclear®, a highly decorated, integrated marketing agency dominant in customer acquisition and winner of 17 US Search Awards including 5X most recent Best Integrated Agency. Aimclear's differentiator is the balance of holistic brand-builds, PR, data, and integrated performance marketing.
Amanda’s experience includes 11+ years as Managing Partner running a 20-person integrated team which achieved national recognition. Her B2B and B2C marketing leadership experience runs deep in, healthcare, professional services, ecommerce, and global IoT (smart homes, smart cities, smart cars, etc.). Her expertise extends international agriculture, food conglomerates, influencer driven ecommerce sales, automotive aftermarket diagnostic tooling and electric vehicle charging systems, finance, major non-profits, and other verticals.
A rising star on the American conference circuit, Amanda has electrified numerous search and social marketing conferences including SMX (Advanced, West, Report, etc.), HeroCon, PRSA Detroit, FoundCon, and TogetherDigital. She published critically respected thought leadership articles in first tier industry publications including SearchEngineLand and MarketingLand. Amanda judges the annual Global Content Awards and UK App Awards.
Clients and colleagues describe Amanda as an “Expert in behavioral strategy,” always “Thinking ahead and looking out for blind spots,” has a “Genuine dedication to success of team,” a “Breath of fresh air,” “Student of the industry,” and demonstrates a “Well-rounded expertise.”
Accolades for Amanda’s work include: Interactive Marketing Awards Best Interactive B2B Campaign (Bosch), Finny Killer Content Award, PRSA ECD Diamond Award, US Social Media Communication Award for Non-Profit, Hermes Creative Award Winner (social media), Marcom Gold Content Award (Social Media Facebook Engagement, Humane Society of Macomb), IABC Detroit Best Integrated Marketing Campaign (Senior Village Management), and a finalist for Landy’s Search Female Marketer of the Year.
Away from the office you'll find Amanda hanging with the kids, supporting her husband’s art gallery tattoo studio, sailing Lake Sinclair, indulging her energetic Disney obsession, and attending live music events.
Moderator
Brad Geddes
Brad Geddes has been involved in PPC since 1998. He is a co-founder of AdAlysis, a PPC recommendation engine. Brad is the author of Advanced Google AdWords, the most advanced book ever written about Google's advertising program. Brad has worked with many of the world's leading companies in managing and perfecting their PPC management and workflows. One of his trademarks has been demystifying the complicated aspects of SEM. Not one to hold secrets, Brad prefers to educate marketers on the various aspects of crafting successful marketing campaigns to ensure the success for all parties involved.
Integrated marketing in the AI era: How to align paid and organic for maximum impact
Friday — June 13th, 2025
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ET
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Session overview
AI is revolutionizing search and digital advertising at breakneck speed, yet many brands still treat paid and organic marketing as separate entities. The result? Inefficiencies, wasted budget, and missed growth potential. By integrating these channels into a cohesive strategy, brands can amplify visibility, optimize ad spend, and drive sustained revenue growth.
Join Amanda Farley, CMO at Aimclear, as she unveils a tactical framework for breaking down silos between PPC and SEO, ensuring AI-powered marketing efforts work together -- not against each other. Through real-world case studies, you’ll see how brands have successfully aligned their paid and organic strategies to boost conversions, lower costs, and future-proof their search presence.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Develop a unified strategy that eliminates inefficiencies and fuels growth across all channels.
- Use machine learning to refine audience targeting, optimize spend, and supercharge campaign performance.
- Foster collaboration between teams to enhance efficiency and maximize results.
- Apply insights from case studies where AI-driven PPC and SEO strategies have delivered game-changing outcomes.
- Adapt to AI-driven shifts in search algorithms and ad platforms to stay ahead of the competition.
TRACK
Theater
Clinic: How to enhance your Google Ads to improve the user experience
Clinic: How to enhance your Google Ads to improve the user experience
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Amy Hebdon, Founder & Managing Director, Paid Search Magic
Christine Zirnheld, Digital Marketing Manager, Cypress North
Speaker
Amy Hebdon
Founder & Managing Director, Paid Search Magic
Amy Hebdon is the founder of Google Premier Partner agency Paid Search Magic. She is a top Google Ads conversion expert & paid search coach with over 20 years of hands-on experience, and has been named one of the Top PPC Experts by PPC Hero and Marketing O'Clock. Her PPC marketing experience and insights make her a welcomed contributor to Search Engine Land, Search Engine Journal, PPC Hero, CXL, Copyhackers, Supermetrics and Unbounce. She co-hosts the free Facebook group Google Ads for Savvy Digital Marketers.
Speaker
Christine Zirnheld
Digital Marketing Manager, Cypress North
Christine Zirnheld (AKA Shep) is a Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Cypress North, specializing in B2B advertising. Christine also hosts Marketing O'Clock, a weekly digital marketing news podcast, where she covers the latest PPC news and updates with plenty of rants, sass, and eye rolls.
Clinic: How to enhance your Google Ads to improve the user experience
Friday — June 13th, 2025
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM ET
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Session overview
Looking for some fresh inspiration to improve your Google Ads? Look no further.
In this fun and informative clinic, Amy Hebdon, Founder & Managing Director of Paid Search Magic, and Christine Zirnheld, Digital Marketing Manager at Cypress North, will show how you can improve your Google Ads campaigns (and landing pages!). Together, they'll provide advice and suggestions to create a better customer experience.
You'll also be able to volunteer your Google Ads campaign for a live audit. Don't want to volunteer? Sit back and soak up the practical tactics and tips that you can apply to your own ads.
After this session, you’ll be able to:
- Optimize your Google Ads campaigns to improve the user experience and increase conversions.
- Determine where AI can help in this process.
- Implement examples from the live audits into your own content strategy.
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM ET
Lunch & Expo Hall Time
1:45 PM - 2:15 PM ET
Sessions
TRACK
SEO
5 key insights for mastering Generative Engine Optimization
5 key insights for mastering Generative Engine Optimization
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Will Scott, Co-founder, Search Influence
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Speaker
Will Scott
Will Scott is a digital marketing pioneer and recognized authority in SEO and AI-driven content strategies. Known for coining the phrase “barnacle SEO”, he has been a featured speaker at PubCon, SMX, and Local U, sharing insights on the evolving role of AI in search and content marketing.
As CEO & Co-founder of Search Influence, Will leads a team delivering AI-enhanced SEO and data-driven digital marketing solutions for industries ranging from higher education to healthcare and hospitality. A longtime AI advocate, he helps businesses integrate AI tools for content creation, automation, and smarter SEO strategies.
With a degree in Architecture from Tulane University, Will applies strategic problem-solving to online marketing, maximizing visibility and ROI in an AI-powered world.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
5 key insights for mastering Generative Engine Optimization
Friday — June 13th, 2025
1:45 PM - 2:15 PM ET
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Session overview
AI-driven search is transforming how content is discovered and ranked. To stay competitive, SEOs must understand how AI search models like Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search retrieve and prioritize content.
Join Will Scott, CEO of Search Influence, as he breaks down the five most critical insights for optimizing content and improving visibility in AI-generated search results.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Optimize content using known entities and the knowledge graph.
- Leverage citations and trust signals to boost AI visibility.
- Track AI search performance with specialized tools.
- Adjust your SEO strategy for conversational and predictive search.
TRACK
PPC
Mastering Performance Max campaigns using scripts
Mastering Performance Max campaigns using scripts
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Nils Rooijmans, Google Ads Automater, Nils Rooijmans.com
Moderator:
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Nils Rooijmans
Google Ads Automater, Nils Rooijmans.com
Nils Rooijmans, a veteran in Search Marketing, AI alumni and Search Specialist by trade. With over +20 years of experience in the field (PPC, SEO), he has helped hundreds of companies increase their revenue and profits, mostly through automations. Currently, he combines his technical, business and entrepreneurial experience running a remote search agency and is sharing knowledge on Google Ads Scripts via his personal site and newsletter.
Moderator
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Mastering Performance Max campaigns using scripts
Friday — June 13th, 2025
1:45 PM - 2:15 PM ET
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Session overview
Ready to regain control over Performance Max and make this campaign type work to optimize your profits? Look no further.
Join scripting wizard Nils Roojmans, Search Consultant at Water Cooler Topics, as he opens up the black box of Google PMax campaigns and shares his script library to help you optimize performance. You'll learn how to use scripts to improve the input for the PMax algorithm, monitor performance, and adjust settings when needed.
After this session, you'll be able to:
- Understand the algorithms behind PMax.
- Use a set of provided tactics and scripts to optimize your campaigns with newfound efficiency.
- Manage PMax budgets to grow revenue and profits, reducing wasted ad spend.
2:15 PM - 2:30 PM ET
Refreshments & Expo Hall Time
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET
Closing Keynote
TRACK
Keynote
Back from the future: Takeaways from the 2026 SEO and PPC All-stars
Back from the future: Takeaways from the 2026 SEO and PPC All-stars
Friday — June 13th, 2025
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Navah Hopkins, Evangelist, Optmyzr
Mike Grehan, CEO, Chelsea Digital
Sam Tomlinson, Executive VP, Strategy & Analytics, Warschawski
Martha van Berkel, CEO, Schema App
Moderator:
Danny Goodwin, Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Moderator:
Anu Adegbola, Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Speaker
Navah Hopkins
A veteran of the digital marketing industry, Brand Evangelist for Optmyzr, and "Top 25 PPC Expert," Navah Hopkins began as an SEO in 2008, transitioning to PPC in 2012. Throughout her career, Navah makes a point to give back and loves sharing lessons learned on the international speaking circuit as well as local universities. She is a frequent contributor to several industry publications and in 2019, she became a founding member of the Paid Search Association.
Speaker
Mike Grehan
Mike Grehan is an SEO pioneer (online since 1995), author, world-traveler and keynote speaker, Champagne connoisseur and consummate drinking partner to the global digital marketing community. He is former publisher of Search Engine Watch and ClickZ, and producer of the industry’s largest search and social marketing event, SES Conference & Expo. Proud to have been chairman of SEMPO the global trade association for search marketers he is also a long-term senior member of ACM, the world's largest computing society. Mike is currently CEO of Chelsea Digital, a New York-based boutique search and performance marketing agency and producer/presenter of the "Inside Marketing" video show/podcast series.
Speaker
Sam Tomlinson
Executive VP, Strategy & Analytics, Warschawski
With a background spanning business, data and finance, Sam Tomlinson is a radically different kind of marketer – one with a singular focus of making businesses better.
This background, combined with a unique combination of analytics skills, performance marketing expertise and deep understanding of brand, allow him to challenge the status quo, see hidden opportunities, develop novel strategies and build scalable systems to capitalize on those opportunities.
In his role as EVP of Strategy & Analytics, Sam leads Warschawski’s award-winning Digital & Analytics teams in the development, execution and optimization of integrated digital campaigns and measurement strategies. Sam has established a data-driven culture throughout the agency while delivering exceptional bottom-line growth for clients through the fusion of innovative digital strategies with robust, multi-channel marketing campaigns.
Since joining Warschawski, Sam has led successful marketing communications initiatives for many of the agency’s global, national and regional clients, including Dole Packaged Foods, Biologics Consulting, Hogan Lovells, Chesapeake Utilities Corporation (NYSE: CPK), KeyW (NASDAQ: KEYW), Janet, Janet & Suggs, Kabateck LLP, JMT, WSP (OTCMKTS: WSP), Sagamore Ventures, Sagamore Spirit and numerous others.
A digital native, deep generalist, and passionate innovator, Sam has a unique ability to connect seemingly disparate concepts in novel ways. His brings an unparalleled understanding of the digital ecosystem and how each component within that ecosystem can work together to create an exceptional outcome. His experience with specific platforms, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, Reddit, YouTube, Programmatic/DSPs, and Amazon, and knowledge of strategic and tactical methods give him the ability to craft comprehensive strategies, execute them flawlessly and optimize them relentlessly across dozens of channels. This approach has led to successful outcomes for clients with a wide variety of industries and business models, including, B2B, B2C, B2G, DTC, SaaS, lead generation, and more.
As a thought leader and pioneer in the digital and data marketing spaces, Sam is frequently sought out for comment and expertise. He is regularly invited to speak at major regional, national and international conferences, including HeroConf, SMX, PRSA ICON, Search Marketing Summit (AU), AMEC & The Digital Analytics Association, among others. He is regularly quoted by prominent national, regional and industry publications.
Sam is a member of the Executive Education faculty at the renowned Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, an adjunct instructor at Georgetown University and Cabrini University, and a guest lecturer at New York University. Sam is a member of the Paid Search Association Board. Sam was named one of the “Marketers of Tomorrow” by Target Marketing, a Maryland Daily Record 2020 VIP List winner one of the Top 50 Most Influential PPC Experts by PPC Hero.
In addition to his role at Warschawski, Sam is a managing partner at W Ventures, a one-of-a-kind VC and accelerator company that focuses on high growth potential companies based in or willing to relocate to or co-headquarter in the Baltimore/Washington region. As a managing partner, Sam supports portfolio management and acquisition while using his expertise in analytics and performance marketing to challenge the status quo, identify hidden opportunities, develop novel strategies and build scalable systems to capitalize on opportunities.
Sam completed his undergraduate degree at Franklin & Marshall College, and received his MBA with Honors from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. Outside of work, Sam maintains a 7-handicap, is a die-hard Flyers fan and travel enthusiast.
Speaker
Martha van Berkel
Martha van Berkel is the CEO and co-founder of Schema App, an end-to-end Schema Markup and Knowledge Graph solution provider. She focuses on helping SEO teams globally understand the value of Schema Markup and how they can leverage it to develop their Content Knowledge Graph and drive search performance.
Prior to Schema App, Martha was a Senior Manager at Cisco Systems for 14 years responsible for the global online support strategy. She has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Engineering, attended MIT for Innovation and Strategy, is a Mom of two, as well as an avid rower.
Moderator
Danny Goodwin
Editorial Director, Search Engine Land & SMX
Danny Goodwin is the Editorial Director of Search Engine Land & SMX. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Goodwin has been covering search industry news and trends since 2007. He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.
Moderator
Anu Adegbola
Paid Media Editor, Search Engine Land
Anu Adegbola has been Paid Media Editor of Search Engine Land since 2024. She covers paid search, paid social, retail media, video and more.
In 2008, Anu's career started with delivering digital marketing campaigns (mostly but not exclusively Paid Search) by building strategies, maximising ROI, automating repetitive processes and bringing efficiency from every part of marketing departments through inspiring leadership both on agency, client and marketing tech side.
Outside editing Search Engine Land article she is the founder of PPC networking event - PPC Live and the host of weekly podcast PPCChat Roundup
Recognise her? Well that's because she has spoken on several stages including, but not exclusive to - SMX (US), SMX (Munich), Friends of Search (Amsterdam), brightonSEO, The Marketing Meetup, HeroConf (PPC Hero), SearchLove, BiddableWorld, SESLondon, PPC Chat Live, AdWorld Experience (Bologna).
Back from the future: Takeaways from the 2026 SEO and PPC All-stars
Friday — June 13th, 2025
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM ET
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Session overview
What if you could hear trusted insights from four of the industry’s top SEO and PPC experts... a year in advance?
Wrap up your SMX Advanced experience with a unique and fast-paced closing keynote: Our all-star panel has “traveled back” from 2026 to give you an entertaining and insightful look at the biggest search trends, shifts, and breakthroughs that shaped the last (read: next?) 12 months. Get ready to future-proof your strategies before the future even arrives.
After this keynote, you'll have a deeper understanding of:
- The game-changing updates from Google and other platforms that will change how we approach search marketing.
- The tools, tactics, and AI-driven strategies that set the winners apart from the rest.
- The biggest mistakes brands make -- and how to avoid them before they happen.