Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

Tamag, Vigan City
2700 Ilocos Sur
College of Communication and Information Technology
Website: www.unp.edu.ph Mail: ccit@unp.edu.ph
Tel. #: (077) 632 06 02

Sayson, Dominic Kyle A. BSIT 3-B

ITE2 – BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

GOOGLE DATA STUDIO

Definition
• A free tool from Google that lets users make custom reports with data from Google’s
marketing services and external sources.
• Google Data Studio, also called Data Studio, is a free reporting and data visualization tool.
It pulls data from up to 12 different sources, including Google Analytics, and combines
them into an easy-to-modify, easy-to-share, and easy-to-read report. The platform also
features widgets, graphs, charts, and maps to visualize your data.

Data Studio is Google’s reporting solution for power users who want to go beyond the data
and dashboards of Google Analytics. The data widgets in Data Studio are notable for their variety,
customization options, live data, and interactive controls (such as column sorting and table
pagination). Data sources include Google products (Analytics, AdWords, Search Console, Sheets,
YouTube, etc.), database connectors, file upload, and “community” connectors to popular
marketing services.

Google Data Studio started out as part of the enterprise Google Analytics 360 suite. In May
2016, Google announced a free version of the data studio for individuals and smaller teams. At the
time, there were differences between the paid version and the free version, such as the number
of reports that could be created per account. By February 2017, Google announced free, unlimited
Data Studio reports. Since then, the free version of Google Data Studio has continued to add
powerful features and usability enhancements.

Here are some frequently asked questions that might answer your query about the Google
Data Studio:

Is Google Data Studio free to use?

Yes! Google Data Studio is free to use.

 While reporting software can cost thousands of dollars, ultimately cutting into your bottom
line, Google continues to answer the needs of marketers and business owners by offering a free
solution to data reporting.

With Google Data Studio, you have a simple, free, and easy-to-use platform for explaining
complex pieces of data.

When was Google Data Studio released?

In October 2018, the free version of Google Data Studio became available. Previously,
Data Studio was a paid reporting and data visualization tool called Google Data Studio 360. Since
its release, companies and digital marketing agencies have rapidly adopted Data Studio due to its
ease of use, convenience, and several other advantages.

What are the benefits of using Data Studio?

Data Studio comes with several benefits, including these nine:

1. Access unlimited widget options

Unlike Google Analytics, which only allows a maximum of 12 graphs or charts in a report, Google
Data Studio lets you include any number of widgets. This feature allows you to share and explain
your data in multiple ways.

Widget options include:

• Heat graphs by region, state, or country
• Pie charts
• Time series graphs
• And many more

You can also modify each of these widgets with a variety of metrics. With Google Data Studio,
you have immense freedom in how you create your reports and convey your data. That’s why
Data Studio is becoming an essential tool for companies.
2. Pull data from multiple sources
Probably one of the most unique and helpful features of Google Data Studio comes from its ability
to draw from up to 12 different data sources, which you can consolidate in your reports. That
means you can pull and pool data from several critical platforms.
A few examples include:
• Google Analytics
• Google Ads
• YouTube
• CloudSQL
• Search Console
• And more!

Use these platforms to create a report that looks at all aspects of your business.

This feature makes Data Studio a one-stop-shop for your reporting needs and ensures your
reports look incredibly professional.

3. Share Data Studio reports easily

When compiling or reviewing Data Studio reports with so many data options and metrics,
you may want to get the opinions of your team members, dedicated account manager, or
company decision-makers fast — without any extra hassle.

Downloading and sending files is a time sink, especially when you want some quick
feedback. Google understood the necessity of sharing, so they built-in the same sharing
capabilities as their other tools, like Google Docs, into Data Studio.
With Google Data Studio, you can share a link and allow others to view and customize your reports.

Even better, this feature lets you make changes in real time while sharing. Your entire team can
look at the same report and make changes simultaneously. This shareability aspect is a massive
time saver for businesses and marketers!

4. Create easy-to-read reports for everyone

You can break down Data Studio reports into one page or 20 pages, demonstrating the flexibility
and customization of Google Data Studio. It adapts to your company’s unique needs, making it a
stress-free process to share critical data.

Even better, you can customize your report’s layout.

It’s easy to change fonts, colors, themes, sizes, and more to make each report easy to read. Plus,
you can add anywhere from one to 10 widgets per page. This layout allows you to provide team
members and company decision-makers with a view into your campaign from every angle.

5. Get dynamic reporting

While you can make edits with your team in real-time, you can also allow Google Data Studio to
pull real-time data into your reports too. You can set your reports to update and fill your widgets
with in-the-moment data automatically as well.

If you want a few widgets to display current information you can, but you can also keep some data
set to last month if you want. This dynamic report gives you unlimited data options to better serve
your business.
6. Build interactive experiences

Your widgets can come to life too!

Your graphs and charts do not have to stay one-dimensional. Share your reports digitally
and let your business leaders click and change reports to see the data points they want. This
interactive feature makes it easy for users to visualize data.

It also adds to the endless customization options available with Data Studio.

7. Use free Data Studio templates

Google Data Studio has templates already created to help with your reports. The platform
comes preloaded with templates for Google Analytics, YouTube, Google Ads, and many more. It
even comes with templates for specific industries, like e-commerce.
8. Learn with free Google Data Studio tutorials

No one comes into Google Data Studio as an expert.

That’s why Google offers training, which you can pair with the templates to make your life
easy. Google offers videos, report tutorials, and data source tutorials. You can access the Data
Studio learning center via the help menu.

Even if you’re not creating the reports, these resources can help you better understand
what your marketing company does for you, as well as give you an insight into how innovative
Google has become in the reporting realm.

If you need additional help, you can also visit the Google Data Studio forums.

9. Embed Data Studio reports on social media

If you’ve ever wanted to publish your reports across social media, from Facebook to
Twitter, you now can with Data Studio. Via the platform, it’s a simple process to embed your
reports, which you may want to share to demonstrate an accomplishment, experiment, or study.

Just embed the report URL in your social media post and publish your post.

How to use Google Data Studio

If you’re ready to get started with Google Data Studio, follow these steps:
• Log in to Data Studio with your Google account
• Click the “Create” button in the top left corner
• Choose “Data Source”
• Link your data sources, like Google Analytics
• Return to the Google Data Studio dashboard
 • Select the “Create” button in the top left corner
• Choose “Report”
• Pick your data sources to import from the right-hand side
• Edit your report’s layout, theme, colors, and more
• Click “Share” in the upper right corner to share your report

MICROSOFT POWER BI
Microsoft itself describes Power BI as a…

“…business analytics solution that lets you visualize your data and share insights across your
organization, or embed them in your app or website.”

Simply enough, it’s a business intelligence tool perfect for non-technical users in
managing, analyzing, visualizing, and sharing data with others.

In more ways than one, it’s closely related to Excel with great integration between the two.

With Power BI, you can take data from different sources and process them into insights.
Unlike Excel, though, you don’t just stare into hundreds of rows and columns by default.

Instead, you’ll have a better understanding of the data through different visually
compelling and easily understood charts and graphs.

Power BI isn’t merely a single app or software. You can think of it as a group or
an umbrella of cloud-based apps and services.

What can you use Power BI for?

There are 3 areas where Power BI shines the most:

• Connecting data sets

• Running reports and insights
• Sharing with others
 With Power BI, you can connect different data sets and turn them into a digestible data
model. These data models can then be used to better understand the past, present, and possible
future of the said data.
As mentioned earlier, Power BI is more about visuals. The data gathered can then be
translated into stories with the use of charts and graphs.
Why use Power BI?

Power BI offers lots of benefits that your regular Microsoft Excel usually can’t. Some of
these advantages include:

• Memory and speed: Data can be quickly collected and analyzed. You can input large data
sets that other solutions would probably choke.
• Seamless integration: Power BI can easily integrate with lots of existing analytics and
reporting apps. A few examples include Office 365, SharePoint, Google Analytics,
Salesforce, Mailchimp, and others.
• Technical know-how not required: Power BI’s user interface is quite similar to other
Microsoft Office apps. Just touch a button and see what it does.
• Personalized dashboards: Power BI offers rich and powerful personalization options by
enabling you to create your own dashboards.
• Data security: Power BI lets you publish reports securely. Power BI also lets you control
your data’s accessibility freely.

What are the components of Power BI?

Power BI is composed of different components — apps and services — for users to create,
analyze, and share business intelligence insights however they like.
 Here’s a list of the components that make up Power BI:

Power Query: A data connection tool for transforming and combining data from different sources.

Power Pivot: A data modeling tool for creating memory tabular data.

Power View: A data visualization tool that lets you create charts, graphs, and maps from your data.

Power Map: Another data visualization tool that lets you create immersive 3D geospatial maps.

Power Q&A: A question and answer engine where you can ask questions regarding your data in
natural language.

How much does Power BI cost?

There are 3 types of Power BI that you can get — Power BI Desktop, Power BI Pro, and
Power BI Premium.

In addition, there are Power BI apps you can use: the desktop version, the online version,
or the mobile version.

Power BI basically has 3 pricing plans:

• Free
• Power BI Pro
• Power BI Premium
 You can use the desktop version for free. The online service is also available for free (minus
the sharing capabilities) as long as you are using a company email.

Power BI Pro is the next tier where you can share your reports and dashboards. It
costs $9.99 monthly per user.

Power BI Premium is the highest tier intended for large businesses. Power BI Pro is a paid
per-user license while this premium plan covers everyone within the organization as long as the
use is within the dedicated cloud compute and storage resources.

Conclusion
If you’re a business analyst, data scientist, BI professional, or someone that needs to
compile data, make a visual representation of it easily and maybe even share it with others, Power
BI is a great addition to your tools.
References:

https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/what-is-google-data-studio/

https://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/google-data-studio/

https://spreadsheeto.com/what-is-power-bi/