avatarChristianlauer

Summary

Google Data Studio has released three significant updates to enhance user experience and integration, including a new data panel, improved BigQuery integration, and general availability of the Linking API.

Abstract

Google has introduced three major updates to its Data Studio platform, aimed at streamlining the report creation process and enhancing data visualization capabilities. The new data panel allows users to easily access and manage data sources directly within the report editing interface. Additionally, the improved integration with BigQuery enables users to visualize BigQuery data in Data Studio using the 'Explore' options in the BigQuery console. The Data Studio Linking API is now generally available, providing a reliable method for configuring and sharing reports via URLs. These updates position Google Data Studio as a competitive alternative to other paid business intelligence solutions, with the anticipation of future enhancements such as triggering alerts for target values and the potential to execute Python code within Data Studio.

Opinions

  • The author is optimistic about the new features, viewing them as improvements that make Data Studio more user-friendly and efficient.
  • There is an expectation that Google will continue to innovate and introduce features like data-driven alerts, which would be highly beneficial.
  • The author expresses a personal desire for the future implementation of Python code execution within Google Data Studio, indicating a belief that this would be a valuable addition.
  • The author suggests that the current updates already make Google Data Studio a strong competitor to other, paid business intelligence tools.

3 Big Updates in Google Data Studio

How Google makes its’ Business Intelligence Tool even better

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Since the last update of Data Studio is now already a bit ago (end of May), Google now comes with three large and interesting new features around the corner. Let’s have a look.

New Data Panel

With the update, it is now easier for the user to get to all necessary data for creating the report. In this regard, when a report is edited, a new Data panel can be found in the properties panel. This data panel then lists all of the data sources that have been added to the report. In order to gain access to all fields and parameters in the data source, just expand that specific data source. Also, one can now just use the drag fields from the data panel to a chart or canvas in order to feature that data in the report [1].

New Data Panel — Image by Author

Better Integration with BigQuery

Furthermore, one can now visualize a BigQuery table or custom query in Data Studio by using the Explore options in the BigQuery console. Therefore, just simply select a table or run a query, afterwards click Explore with Data Studio [1]. Google has also recently improved the integration by making the data available in shorter intervals (click here for more).

Linking API is now available

Last but not least: the update also made the Data Studio Linking API now generally available for everyone. The Linking API provides the user a reliable interface to configure and forward users directly to a Data Studio report via an URL. When these users follow a Linking API URL, they experience a streamlined workflow and can now quickly view and interact with their data [1].

Again, interesting innovations and improvements that Google presents here in Data Studio, making the solution competitive with other (paid) solutions. Perhaps the following article is also interesting for you: Google Data Studio vs. Qlik — a Comparison.

I can’t wait to see what comes next. The possibility of triggering alarms when certain target values are reached is also listed in the official list of requirements. I, personally, would find this very useful, however, I hope that especially the possibility to run Python code in Google Data Studio will come sometime in the near future. We will see!

Sources and Further Readings

[1] Google, Release notes (2022) What’s new in Data Studio?

[2] Google, IssueTracker (2022)

Google
Google Data Studio
Programming
Business Intelligence
Data Science
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