• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, September 12, 2013

Search agencies continue to evolve. CEO David Rodnitzky says that starting Thursday, PPC Associates will officially begin operating under the name 3Q Digital to reflect the addition of other digital media. He says the decision to rebrand was in response to increasing industry demand for multichannel digital marketing services.

The company began as a search engine marketing agency in 2008, focusing on paid-search marketing and pay-per-click management. Five years later, Rodnitzky decided to expand -- offering services like display, social video, search engine optimization, and more. "I look at the name as an empty vessel in which we can develop the brand," he says. "We're a search-first marketing agency, but we also see so much opportunity in other areas."

Rodnitzky says about 70 clients spend more than $175 million in aggregate annually, generating 70% year-on-year growth. The company, which supports desktop and mobile campaigns, recently added offices in San Francisco and San Diego to support existing ones in San Mateo and Chicago.

3Q will move deeper into creative and analytics services. There is also potential in the future to also offer video production and advertising, along with email marketing services, as well as search, social and display. The company produced a GoPro YouTube video that got about 12 million views. The focus has been direct-response channels, so there is little chance the company will add a branding or out-of-home division.

In 2012, as PPC Associates, the company generated $6.7 million in revenue. This year Rodnitzky estimates $10.5 million, with plans to nearly double that in 2014. "We hired our first salesperson ever in 2013, about a month ago," he says. "It's a bit of a challenge to double revenue in a year, but we've never had a sales team, and we hope to do that this year."

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