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Martin had the uncanny ability to make friends faster than anyone I think I have ever met. You couldn't just know Martin in passing - you either knew him as well as a best friend, or didn't know him at all. I first met Martin at PubCon in London (circa 2002). He was sooo young, but after just a few minutes of talking, it became clear that he not only knew SEO, but he was one of the few doing actual empirical testing of the algos. Martin was at times a bit of an enigma. It was tough to figure out how a young teenager could be living alone in London and could be so successful. We often joked that he must have a sugar daddy or worked for MI6. Good friend Shakil Kahn once said to me, "Give up trying to figure it out man. He is what he says is and it all checks out.". Martin was well known here at WebmasterWorld for his string of Google update calls. He would spot a Google update (dance) before anyone else would and post it. He got so tired of the normal "no it isn't an update" initial posts that he finally just started calling me direct to post it so everyone would believe it. He would just call and say one word, update and hang up. He was so accurate, that I actually nicknamed him update and joked that we had to figure out a way to name an update after him. I saw Martin last summer in New York city where he was living in a fabulous loft. We had lunch and I quizzed him a bit about his background. He went into great detail about his mom & dad and what they did. He was so proud of the work his mother was doing - he just beamed ear-to-ear telling me about her. At the time he was concerned that his visa was about to run out and he had to leave the US for awhile to reapply. I asked if it would help if he needed to use me as a reference for employment. He said thanks, but was finally looking forward to seeing his family and spending some time in Europe again. My wife (Erika) saw Martin walking into PubCon with a candy bar once, and joked to him that the price of admission was that you had to bring the conference organizers wife' chocolates. Sure enough - every PubCon after that, Martin would bring Erika a box of Swedish or German chocolates. You will be missed sir. Links: Getting Goofy at PubCon Boston 2003 Relaxing at PubCon London 2003 Danny Sullivan and Martin
Having fun at PubCon London 2002, Oilman and Martin: 
Woz
Funny that 1st time I met Martin, he was very rude and arrogant to me, but during those 2-3 days we got on real well which led to 3 years of very close friendship.
It's a great loss whenever anyone dies, but to die so young is even more tragic.
Martin used to love doing random stuff, at 1 PubCon, we came up with the plan to make £500 for our night out, I acted as his PR AGENT and we very nearly got some unsuspecting member to pay £500 to have lunch with Martin, in the end we scrapped the idea and went out anyway ...
Today has seen me chatting to people who I have not spoken to for a long time, people such as Oilman etc, and we all I am sure felt the same hurt and pain at this tragic news.
I am hearing that there may be a couple of gatherings in USA and Europe in honour/memory of Martin, and I am sure he would have approved of that .
My thoughts go out to his family and friends
Shak
a sad loss indeed and my thoughts go out to his friends and family
photos from pubcon 5, the life and soul of the party [davidnaylor.co.uk]
We walked around for about an hour looking for places to eat. I finally picked the place and we sat down. In the middle of lunch, this beautiful woman who was obviously a model, came up and gave Martin a hug and asked why he hadn't called her in a long time. They chatted/flirted like old friends for awhile and she was off. At the time I was surprised at how random that was to run into someone he knew in the middle of New York City; but that was Martin - he knew everyone.
I still don't believe it and think I will run into you around the corner somewhere around the world which has happened often.
RIP Buddy.
Joe
It was always neat to get a call from Martin out of the blue. Some strange request for Hitwise data, or some one-word introduction usually with two names and then "Speak".
Like Shak, I too find myself speaking with people today about Martin that I haven't talked to in a long time. While his death is sudden and sad, lots of funny stories that make you laugh and good memories being spoken of.
A sad loss to the SEO community and to the internet.
This business has changed a ton over the years and people have come and gone but we have all remained friends. Some of my dearest friends are from those early days and treasure those relationships.
Here's the kicker with a guy like Martin - in life he brought so many of us together and even now he continues to do that very same thing.
I'll miss the random IMs from Martin. Everything from "Hey man - when did you do ..." which was always something I could never figure out he knew it was me, or "Hey man - I'm on my cell and don't have my wallet. Can you book me this room on Hotels.com?".
Good memories.
me too, always some ridiculously obscure tech question he feels I would know, I usually did but I'm not totally sure how he knew to ask me
very, very sad news but very good memories
We had some fine discussions over the years, many unfinished, and I still find it hard to believe I won't get the opportunity and pleasure to speak with Martin again.
He passed on some of his personal magic, and through that, made all our lives richer.
RIP Martin!
Peace
I saw the local news about the plane crash and at that time they had not released any names. They were in a two seat Italian stunt plane.
2 killed in Santa Monica plane crash
[abclocal.go.com...]
It is always sad to see these topics. My condolences to family, loved ones and friends.
Martin was a great friend, and truly a rare individual in this industry. He will be so greatly missed by so many.
To all who knew and loved Martin, we join you in paying our respects and expressing sorrow at his untimely death.
Kim Krause Berg
Founder, Cre8asiteforums
I think his knowledge of nearly everything, his networking skills as well as his life certainly set a goal for me and I'm sure that it motivated me quite often to go even further and work harder on things and brought me to where I am. Thank you!
Needless to say that I was shocked when the news came out and it took me minutes and several tries to make a call to Shak as I just couldn't believe it. Just so sad.
Martin, you will be missed, rest in peace!
He was an intrepid and fearless entrepreneur, easily tackling very big business ideas at an age where his age itself was something of a barrier. It never stopped him.
Martin - fare well!
My condolences to his family and friends.
I can't believe such a young, extraordinarily talented young guy like Martin could just stop being like that -- it's too much, really.
The world is significantly less without him.
I've known Martin since the very first Pubcons in London and as Shak mentions, he was in fact a bit arrogant and kept on being it every time I met him - I think it might have been a teenage or Danes vs. Swedes thing, but we did have some fun times and being almost neighbors, we joked about all the other freaks in the business.
I also remember the very long nights at the Thistle Islington drinking, smoking and having a great time with all the guys and the kid. He was soo much younger than all of us, but certainly one of the sharpest.
He would suddenly show up out of the blue and at one point he was living and working almost in my back yard here in Copenhagen. Truly a world traveler at a very young age who will be missed.
RIP Martin.
I wasn't fortunate enough to meet Martin in the flesh, but we'd been back and forth via sticky-mail, IM and Skype for so long. I'm really saddened by this loss. I guess it's true what they say about the candle that burns brightest...
Enigma, he will be missed.
