Google Data Studio is a powerful data visualization and reporting tool that lets you create custom reports and dashboards. The platform has come a long way since its initial launch, and the team at Google continues to add new features and improvements.

Let us take a look at some of the latest updates to Data Studio and what they mean for you.

New data panel

The new data panel in the properties panel provides easy access to all the data that's available to use in your reports. This makes it easier to find and use the data you need for your reports. The data panel lists all of the data sources that have been added to the report.

Explore BigQuery data in a Data Studio report

You can now visualize a BigQuery table or custom query in Data Studio using the "Explore" options in the BigQuery console. This makes it easy to see how your data is structured and spot any problems with your data.

Linking API general availability

The Data Studio Linking API is now generally available. The Linking API offers a dependable interface for configuring and sending users straight to a Data Studio report via a URL. Users now have a streamlined experience to rapidly examine and interact with their data when they go to a Linking API URL.

More Custom Cache Options

For the following connectors, you may now schedule data freshness to update minutely every 1 to 50 minutes or hourly every 1 to 12 hours:

MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS SQL Server, Google Cloud Storage, Amazon Redshift, CloudSQL for MySQL, and Cloud Spanner

Updated report templates

Adding data to the report template is simpler now. When you open a template, you'll see the added data sources in the top right corner.

More data in tables

Tables in your reports can now display up to 50,000 rows. Previously, tables could display a maximum of 5,000 rows.

Improved data blending

Data visualization is now more powerful and adaptable when using several data sources. You can now choose from 5 distinct join operators when using data blending. (Previously, you were limited to the left outer join.)

Chart cross-filtering on by default

Through cross-filtering, you can modify one chart and then use the results of that modification as filters on other charts in the report. Cross-filtering was previously disabled by default for all charts. 

Home page search keywords

By employing the terms "to:" , "from:", and "me", you may now locate reports and data sources more quickly. Go to the home page of Data Studio, select Reports, Data Sources, or Explorations, and then type your search term into the search box.

Example of search keywords

to:someone@example.com - finds assets you've shared with that person.

from:someone@example.com - finds assets that person has shared with you.

to:me - finds assets shared with you by anyone.

from:me - finds assets you've shared with anyone.

me - searches for to:me or from:me or owner:me (Note: this also does a literal search for "me").

owner:me - finds assets owned by you (Note: this is the same as the current behavior of searching for your own email address).

You can make more complex searches by using "AND," "OR," and grouping with parentheses.

Google Data Studio is a powerful data visualization and reporting tool that continues to get better with each new update. The latest update to Data Studio includes a new way to connect your data, numerous improvements to existing features, and some new ways to customize your reports.

If you're looking for a way to get more insights from your data, Data Studio is a great option. Try it out today and see what it can do for you.