A group of industry veterans have joined together to create the Paid Search Association (PSA), a nonprofit association focused on serving the paid-search advertising industry.

It is the first association dedicated to serving the paid-search industry, according to David Szetela, the founding PSA president.

And while Szetela is the founding president, the organization is the brainchild of Mike Freedman, senior manager of search marketing at Ultimate Medical Academy, according to Szetela.

Freedman has experience in SEO and paid search, along with web analytics, ecommerce, affiliate marketing, email, and more.

The announcement, made Thursday, also named 11 respected paid-search marketers who joined him to create the board of directors.

The board members include Amy Bishop, owner at Cultivative; Brad Geddes, co-founder at Adalysis; Navah Hopkins, digital marketer at WordStream; John Lee, learning strategist and engagement at Microsoft Advertising; Aaron Levy, group director, SEM at Tinuiti; Melissa Mackey, supervisor at Gyro; Samantha Noble, founder, Biddable Moments; JD Prater, evangelist at Quora; Lisa Raehsler, PPC consultant, columnist, speaker, founder BigClickCo.com; Frederick Vallaeys, CEO at Optmyzr; and AJ Wilcox, founder B2Linked.

The group has been working to put this organization together for nearly a year, Szetela said.

Membership will be open to individuals and companies.

The group plans to create programs, services and information that advance the industry, as well as to encourage communication, foster learning and collaboration, and promote diversity and high ethical and business standards among professionals and organizations supporting the paid-search industry.