The  2014 U.S. Search Awards were held on Wednesday, October 8th during Pubcon at the Las Vegas Strip’s iconic Treasure Island Hotel. Representative judges from a number of digital marketing companies, including FMB Media and Omni Marketing Interactive, named a total 20 recipients at the biggest US Search Awards celebration yet.

U.S. Search Awards Big Wins

Taking home a handful of accolades was The Absolut Company, winning Best Use of Search for Retail and The Grand Prix Award. Bing’s Duane Forrester picked up his first U.S. Search Personality of the Year Award, and Walker Sands’ Katie Donabedian was named the Young Search Professional of the Year. Havas Media won Best Use of Search for Travel and Leisure, while Inbound Marketing Campaign for Acquisition & Funding Services (AFS) – Mannix Marketing won Best Use of Search for Finance. Other notable wins went to Motoko Hunt for Best Consultant, AOL for Best In-House Team, and Elite SEM for Best Agency for the second year.

Software, Social Media and Innovation

In the category for exceptional software development, winners include Marin Software for Best PPC Management Software and Searchmetrics Suite  for Best SEO Software. Awards in social media marketing were delivered to Kenshoo, Facebook & Experian for the Finding the Sweet Spot for Search and Social Investment. As rumored early-on at Pubcon, Adobe Media Optimizer won the Innovation Award.

All Star Campaigns

Walker Sands Digital, Zenni Optical, 360i & Red Roof Inn and Point It were all awarded for their various campaigns this year. RKG & Bealls Florida was recognized for the Best Local Campaign, while Webspec Design earned the Best Low Budget Campaign award for the Strauss Security Solutions SEO Campaign.  Best SEO Campaign of the Year went to Portent with Realtruck.com.

Who were you surprised to see win a U.S. Search Award this year?