News Corp Australia’s digital marketing agency News Xtend was awarded Breakout Star of The Year APAC at the recent Annual Global Microsoft Advertising Partner & Innovation Awards in Seattle, USA.

The Global Partner & Innovation Awards is Microsoft’s most prestigious and renowned global event for businesses in the technology and advertising industries.

Breakout Star of the Year APAC is awarded to a rising business who has shown exceptional acceleration and growth on the Microsoft Network through inspired thinking, innovative business solutions, customer focus and delivering top results for their clients.

News Corp managing director SME publishing Australia Emma Fawcett said: “We are building a truly world class marketing services agency in News Xtend, for small-to-medium businesses and I’d like to acknowledge and congratulate the incredible work of Todd Fisher, head of search at News Xtend.

“I already knew that the work from Todd and our SEM team was market leading in Australia, but it’s fantastic to now see we are a stand-out in the APAC region, ensuring our customers are smashing their business goals with a world class level of service.”

Microsoft Advertising AUNZ partner development director Paul Korber  said: “News Xtend thoroughly deserves the Breakout Star of the Year APAC Award.

“They are brilliant channel partners and have accomplished a huge amount in the past year with their impactful, innovative and performance-driven work.

“We look forward to seeing where the partnership goes in the next 12 months.”

News Xtend received the award for their work with shipping container company Royal Wolf.

Royal Wolf CEO Neil Littlewood said: “News Xtend has been our major partner for paid search for the past three years, helping us to extend our reach and increase our leads for shipping container hires in 36 locations across Australia and New Zealand.

“We have grown our business and achieved greater market share as a result of working with News Xtend, despite working in an increasingly competitive market.

“We couldn’t be happier with the results.”