Prior to Yahoo!, Jones, a regular speaker at search marketing industry events, was a director at Goto.com and was responsible for developing the paid-search space in core vertical markets of travel, finance, autos, telecoms, retail and IT. He will take immediate charge of strategy, new business and client services.
claims to have pioneered a unique integrated search marketing system, and Jones's remit will be to develop this offering.
Chris Whitelaw, I-Spy CEO, said: "Hiring someone of his calibre and experience is a coup for I-Spy. Smart clients are looking for a more holistic approach, SEO and PPC need to be handled much more as one as do mobile, local and social search, and Nick has a vast amount of knowledge in this area."
Jones said: "Search engine marketing is such a young sector I'm still trying to work out whether I'm gamekeeper turned poacher or the other way around. There's always been more demand for quality SEO than supply, and Web 2.0 has just doubled everything again.
The move comes as part of a recruitment drive, and I-Spy is now looking to hire a senior SEO and senior PPC managers.
The agency opened its doors in 2006 and currently has 12 staff and includes Bupa and STA Travel among its clients.