• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, February 16, 2005

Fueled by the explosive growth in search advertising, the digital and direct media network mOneWorldwide, a division of WPP, has formed mSearch to focus on search engine marketing and optimization, the company announced Tuesday.

Richard Collins, based in London, will be worldwide CEO, and Stuart Bogaty, former managing director of mOne New York, will serve as CEO of the North America division, which will have offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Toronto. Both Collins and Bogaty will report to Nasreen Madhany, CEO of mOne Worldwide.

mSearch was quietly launched in the United States on Jan. 1, said Bogaty. As of now, the unit has five people in North America, but will soon expand to 15 to 20, Bogaty said. He added that the move was driven by an increased demand for expert search advice. "One of the reasons why we're doing this is that the marketplace is clamoring for it," said Bogaty. "We're going to be able to manage and optimize paid search more regularly and in a deeper way."