The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Mark Irvine


Mark Irvine Rip

I am deeply sad to report that Mark Irvine passed away unexpectedly last night. Mark was deeply involved in the search marketing community, known as being a brilliant paid search specialist who always spent his time helping others over his long career in the space.

Mark has been in the search marketing industry for well over a decade, seven years at WordStream and the last four or so years at SearchLab. He was always a bright and welcoming smile at industry events, sharing advice with colleagues and friends.

Navah Hopkins worked with Mark for many years and she sent me the following message:

“Do less”

These were the words Mark would always say to me when we worked together. Yet he was incapable of doing less. He brought so much love and care to everything he did.

I was lucky enough to work with Mark directly for about 5 years, and counted him a friend since then. Beyond being a brilliant data scientist and a natural leader, Mark was one of the most human humans I’ve ever known. He understood people at a fundamental level and always made sure others around him could shine.

Mark would often say that I was his dedicated PR team and even as I’m writing this detailing his accomplishments and his amazing (and all together too short) life, I can hear him laughing that I’m doing it again. Well – tough…just enjoy the love we have for you and sip those heavenly pumpkin spice lattes.

Mark was always put data first behind every major project at WordStream, Navah told me. He was a worldly person who traveled abroad to speak at many events. He was really good at connecting with people abroad. Mark was named the #1 PPC influencer in 2019 and was consistently was on that list year-after-year. PPCHero has recognized him as one of the top PPC Influencers every year since 2015, as did Microsoft and in 2019.

Here is Mark’s bio at SearchLabs.

He leaves behind his partner, Bobby Main and his mother, Virginia Hall.

Here are some early reactions to the sad news of Mark passing:

Forum discussion at X.