The winners of the Friends of Search Awards 2026 were announced during Friends of Search 2026, the largest search marketing conference in the Benelux. The annual awards, an initiative of industry associations DDMA and VIA Netherlands, recognise the most impactful cases in search marketing. In the Best SEO category, Longfonds took home the award, while Asics claimed victory in the Best PPC category.
Longfonds case – Strong results through a focus on user intent
The SEO jury selected Longfonds as the winner because of its strong, user-centric SEO approach. The case effectively combined entity-based optimisation and on-page improvements, with fulfilling the right user intent as its central strategy. This resulted in clear and measurable improvements in key performance indicators.
Barry Adams, Chair of the SEO jury, explains:
“While much of the SEO conversation today revolves around AI and EEAT, the fundamentals remain critical to success. Longfonds demonstrated how a clear focus on entities and user intent can deliver impressive results, even with relatively limited investment.”
Asics case – A holistic PPC strategy focused on customer and product
Asics was chosen by the PPC jury as the winner for its holistic, customer-centric search strategy that goes beyond short-term optimisation. The company orchestrated its paid search strategy along two dimensions: the product life cycle and the customer life cycle. By balancing brand and generic campaigns, activating first-party data and implementing automation at global scale, Asics created a scalable and future-proof PPC strategy.
Frederick Vallaeys, Chair of the PPC jury, explains:
“Asics stood out with a strongly integrated search strategy that connects both the product and customer life cycles. By leveraging rich first-party data and applying automation at global scale, they created an approach that is both strategically strong and practically repeatable for modern PPC teams.”
An international jury of experts
Entries were judged based on strategic insight, innovation, effectiveness, measurable results, clarity and responsible data use.
The SEO jury consisted of Barry Adams (Chair, Polemic Digital), Linda Hogenes (Coolblue), Arnout Hellemans (OnlineMarkethink), Jono Alderson (Technical SEO Consultant) and Jes Scholz (Jes Scholz Consulting).
The PPC jury consisted of Frederick Vallaeys (Chair, Optmyzr), Kirk Williams (ZATO), Reinier van der Poel (Google), Clemmentijn Treinen (Microsoft) and Bianca de Bruijne (Travix).