ineedhits Founder Clay Cook Returns as CEO

Perth, Western Australia, September 24, 2010 – Leading search engine marketing firm, ineedhits has re-appointed Clay Cook as CEO.

Mr Cook returns to the helm of the company he started back in 1996 with a new energy around the search engine marketing space and fresh ideas to grow the business further.

After creating ineedhits over 14 years ago and building it to is an industry leader, Mr Cook stepped aside in 2004 to start a family and help raise $3.8 million in capital for the launch of successful parenting network, Minti. During this time, Mr Cook continued his involvement in the direction of ineedhits through his role as Chairman of the ineedhits Advisory Board.

“I am excited to be taking such an active role in ineedhits again,” said Mr Cook. “The structure of ineedhits including our products, talented staff and state-of-the-art technology puts us in a great position to move into our next growth phase.”

Mr Cook will be taking over the CEO role that was successfully held by Warren Duff since 2008. During his tenure as CEO, Mr Duff steered ineedhits profitably through the global financial crisis without the loss of any staff and was instrumental in guiding several key growth strategies including the ineedhits partner channel.

“Warren has made a wonderful contribution to ineedhits over the past 7 years,” said Mr Cook. “His appointment as CEO came just as the global financial crisis hit; however his dedication to the success of the company saw it remain profitable during this time while continuing to strengthen its core foundations. This is something many companies failed to achieve, so I thank Warren and wish him every success in the future.”

Mr Duff reflects on his time with ineedhits:
My seven years at ineedhits have been an exciting journey. The way that the industry has matured, the things that I have helped ineedhits accomplish and the amazing people that I have had the opportunity to work with, has been nothing short of amazing. I am extremely proud of everything that ineedhits has achieved and the contributions I have made to that success. Most importantly, I have enjoyed working with the great ineedhits staff, our partners and customers.

During his 7 years at ineedhits, Warren has been instrumental in developing the technology and systems that delivers ineedhits’ scalability including the ineedhits reseller program. He has also been a key driver in the development of a team of young, talented professionals who continue to drive the company’s growth.

“I leave the company in great shape.” said Mr Duff. “With a new CEO who is committed to the vision that he helped define, combined with a very capable team and some of the best technology available, I look forward to seeing its continued success.”

Mr Duff’s decision allows him to explore new opportunities and challenges beyond search engine marketing in fresh markets where he can make a difference.

Mr Cook brings with him a depth of business experience both in web 2.0 and search engine marketing. In 2004, he was recognized as a winner of the 40Under40 and has twice been a finalist in Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award.

To ensure a smooth transition, the changeover will occur over seven weeks. There will be minimal impact to ineedhits as Mr Cook and Mr Duff both firmly believe in the current strategic direction of the company.

Founded in 1996, ineedhits (http://www.ineedhits.com), a pioneer in search engine marketing, has provided search engine optimization (SEO), and search engine advertising (pay-per-click) services to small and medium sized businesses for over fourteen years.

ineedhits has serviced over 250,000 customers and 700,000 subscribers. They have retail partnerships with Yahoo!, LivePerson, ExactSeek and Net Applications.

ineedhits first launched their co-branded reseller program in 2006. During this time the program has grown considerably with a steady stream of new international partners coming on board. Larger partners in this program include Sitepal, Lunarpages, Liveperson and Intertec.

The company has received numerous awards including the Deloitte Touche Fast 50 (2003 & 2004) and BRW Fast 100 (2002 & 2003).

ineedhits.com Pty Ltd
Level 1, 229 Stirling Highway,
Claremont, Western Australia
Australia 6010

Rene LeMerle
VP of Marketing
+61 8 9333 8223
rene.lemerle@ineedhits.com

This release was published on openPR.