Editor’s note: In an ongoing series, INMA is profiling our most engaged members — our super fans — to give members a chance to learn more about each other. Today we profile Anntao Diaz, head of news consumer insights, realtime content insights and Google surveys for publishers in Mountain View, California, United States.

Google’s Anntao Diaz believes simplicity is underrated.

“There’s so much complexity around us in data, ad monetisation, and reader revenue. We tend to forget that little simple steps, in the right direction, can have a ton of impact,” said the head of news consumer insights, realtime content insights and Google surveys for publishers. For example, a company that is looking to grow its reader revenue  may only need to make a small tweak: “You’d be surprised how much impact changing your call-to-actions’ colours and overall contrast can have.”

When not interpreting data, Diaz enjoys travelling, amongst other things: “I (try) to play my electric guitar, and, as a true geek, I spend a lot of time on my computer enjoying video games/getting lost in Web rabbit holes.”

 INMA recently talked to him about what else he’s doing these days.

INMA: If you had your career to do over again, what would you want to know in the beginning?

Diaz: To buy bitcoins? Embrace the mess, be a generalist, and always surround yourself with smarter people than you.

INMA: What makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

Diaz: I am not a morning person. The prospect of dark coffee and toast!

INMA: What is the craziest job or project you’ve ever done in media — and what did you learn from it? 

Diaz: A few years ago, at a Local Media Consortium conference in Chicago, we invited and encouraged every single news publisher (100+) in the room to share their analytics data in the hope of creating a public data framework that would inform how to grow reader engagement and revenue. All we had back then was a (very) clumsy visual report. 

That was the first critical step toward building what would become News Consumer Insights, a free data tool that has helped hundreds of news organisations around the world. 

INMA: What success within your company are you most proud of right now? 

Diaz: I’m proud of all the work that the Google News Initiative has done to help the news industry over the last few years and the positive sustainability impact that we’ve delivered to thousands of news organisations around the world.

On a more personal basis, I’m extremely proud of the free tools my team has launched that turn analytics data into actionable recommendations for publishers to grow engagement and revenue: goo.gle/datatools.

INMA: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Diaz: You can learn anything if you invest the right amount of time.

INMA: If you hadn’t gone into news media, what was your backup plan?

Diaz: Video game producer. 

INMA: What is your favourite thing to read? 

Diaz: Sci-fi, dystopian, and space opera novels primarily.

INMA: What do you find the most challenging/interesting about the news media industry right now? 

Diaz: It’s hard to pinpoint one specific thing since there’s so much happening in our industry right now. I would probably choose the current shift towards dynamic business models (ads, reader revenue, commerce) based on reader value (ARPU, CLV).

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