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For anyone wondering what this is: "Google Data Studio (beta) turns your data into informative dashboards and reports that are easy to read, easy to share, and

For anyone wondering what this is: "Google Data Studio (beta) turns your data into informative dashboards and reports that are easy to read, easy to share, and fully customizable. Start telling great stories with your data and make better business decisions. Create up to five free custom reports with unlimited editing and sharing with Data Studio." (From https://www.google.com/analytics/data-studio/ https://www.google.com/analytics/data-studio/) This also isn't anything new, it was released a few months ago: https://analytics.googleblog.com/2016/05/announcing-data-studio-our-free-new.html https://analytics.googleblog.com/2016/05/announcing-data-stu...

myowncrapulence 10y ago
So.. it's google analytics? Or a client for analytics? I still don't understand. Why wouldn't this just be integrated into their existing platform?
- BucketSort 10y ago
  My guess is that they are trying to make a data analytics platform for data in general, but the system integrates easily with their other data driven products.
- minimaxir 10y ago
  The Data Studio appears to be explicitly a dashboard service, but for any kind of data (which puts it in competition with services like Tableau). There is some overlap with Google Analytics and its native dashboards, but that's not a bad thing.
  - soared 10y ago
    Oh god the dashboards in GA are so awful, I cringe whenever someone requests one.
    - Something1234 10y ago
      Why are they terrible? Do they misrepresent the information?
- golfer 10y ago
  Somewhat like Tableau, but in the cloud. (Tableau may have a cloud version too, I'm actually not sure)
  - tajen 10y ago
    ...in the cloud, hence it aims more at being a glue for the web. Merge datasources from anywhere, create joint reports, an incentive for everyone to open-up their data and make it accessible to Google. Sounds like a smart idea to place Google in the middle of the web.
  - shawnzvinis 10y ago
    Yes there is a Tableau Cloud – costs extra though! ;)
  - tixocloud 10y ago
    Yep, Tableau does have a cloud version too - both private and hosted.
    - djd20 10y ago
      Also worth checking out is http://redash.io http://redash.io for this kind of stuff - fairly new but developing quickly and very easy to hack on/add stuff. Good docs, easy to deploy and has some nice auto-update reports bits. We use that quite heavily. Its open source/free to use but also comes with paid cloudy plans.
      - arikfr 10y ago
        Thanks for mentioning Redash! (I'm the author) It's actually not that new -- I've been working on it for 3 years now :-)
- soared 10y ago
  This just lets you make pretty dashboards/reports for google analytics and a bunch of other data.
- IMcD23 10y ago
  I find it similar to PowerBI from Microsoft.
  - blahi 10y ago
    Except much, much, much less capable.
    - dfmooreqqq 10y ago
      Agreed. PowerBI has so much more functionality - and more adding every month. And with the ability to use R to make charts, it has a lot more customizability.
    - pritambarhate 10y ago
      Hopefully this the start of something very powerful.
- tibu 10y ago
  I think this is their visualization platform for BigQuery
- crb 10y ago
  The Google Analytics team built a dashboard tool, as part of their "Google Analytics 360" release. Other teams, including Cloud, then worked with them to make it available for other data sources, including Google BigQuery and MySQL.
- arsenico 10y ago
  This is a fully-fledged basic business intelligence tool, which can chart data from Google Analytics, Google Sheets and MySQL an series of other sources. It is a perfect free alternative to QlikView/Tableau for some simple data projects.
flukus 10y ago
So it's a reporting tool? All the link does is take me to the google sign in page.
- chipperyman573 10y ago
  Here's a non account-locked page: https://archive.fo/vkplk https://archive.fo/vkplk
  - flukus 10y ago
    Thanks. First big issue for me, it's US only. Why on earth does something like this need to be region locked? Second is that it's hosted. That makes it a non-starter for enterprise reporting.
    - aeijdenberg 10y ago
      Probably no reason other than that it takes time and resources to go through all the steps necessary to launch in a region (e.g. localization, legal etc), and it's more effective to get feedback on a beta product early in one region than to delay for many.
    - dogma1138 10y ago
      EU data protection can be in play ATM since they might not have this thing complaint, same goes for other regulations. So the easy thing is to limit it to the US.
      - dmoy 10y ago
        Compliant, as in complying with regulations?
        sdoering 10y ago
        Exactly. Because we in the EU do not want our customer data (be it personal identifiable information or not) to be transferred to the US without consent of our customers. And rightly so. I am abbreviating massively here, but since the "Safe Harbor" things are actually a little bit more rough around data transfers. Non the less Data Studio is available in Germany, as I have already used it. I might be limited on the data sources though.
hammock 10y ago
I'm sure this is awesome. However if I were a f500 company using this (or in competition with one), I would be careful with what data I put into Google's cloud.
- kyrra 10y ago
  Why? Has Google ever done anything with their cloud services that cause you to distrust them?
  - prplhaz4 10y ago
    Generally, the products Google offers for free involve them using the data you put into it to tailor their products and services to you. Not having examined the EULA, I don't know if this product is similar, but in general, that is the reason my legal department does not react nicely when projects try to bring google products into our ecosystem.
  - webmaven 10y ago
    Not the PP, but though I have never come across anything substantive, there have been persistent rumors that Google M&A (and other) folks trawl through GMail to gain competitive advantages and negotiating leverage, particularly vs. startups. OTOH, the rumors are most often of the "my 2nd cousin's mother-in-law's half-brother's secretary's boyfriend's ex-husband" variety, ie. not even anonymous 1st hand claims. Anecdotally, these rumors seem to most often be spread by Enterprise SaaS salespeople.
    - huangwei_chang 10y ago
      I feel those rumors are just incorrect from my previous experience working in Google.
      - cromwellian 10y ago
        Not just wrong but practically impossible.

myowncrapulence 10y ago

So.. it's google analytics? Or a client for analytics? I still don't understand. Why wouldn't this just be integrated into their existing platform?

BucketSort 10y ago
My guess is that they are trying to make a data analytics platform for data in general, but the system integrates easily with their other data driven products.
minimaxir 10y ago
The Data Studio appears to be explicitly a dashboard service, but for any kind of data (which puts it in competition with services like Tableau). There is some overlap with Google Analytics and its native dashboards, but that's not a bad thing.
- soared 10y ago
  Oh god the dashboards in GA are so awful, I cringe whenever someone requests one.
  - Something1234 10y ago
    Why are they terrible? Do they misrepresent the information?
golfer 10y ago
Somewhat like Tableau, but in the cloud. (Tableau may have a cloud version too, I'm actually not sure)
- tajen 10y ago
  ...in the cloud, hence it aims more at being a glue for the web. Merge datasources from anywhere, create joint reports, an incentive for everyone to open-up their data and make it accessible to Google. Sounds like a smart idea to place Google in the middle of the web.
- shawnzvinis 10y ago
  Yes there is a Tableau Cloud – costs extra though! ;)
- tixocloud 10y ago
  Yep, Tableau does have a cloud version too - both private and hosted.
  - djd20 10y ago
    Also worth checking out is http://redash.io http://redash.io for this kind of stuff - fairly new but developing quickly and very easy to hack on/add stuff. Good docs, easy to deploy and has some nice auto-update reports bits. We use that quite heavily. Its open source/free to use but also comes with paid cloudy plans.
    - arikfr 10y ago
      Thanks for mentioning Redash! (I'm the author) It's actually not that new -- I've been working on it for 3 years now :-)
soared 10y ago
This just lets you make pretty dashboards/reports for google analytics and a bunch of other data.
IMcD23 10y ago
I find it similar to PowerBI from Microsoft.
- blahi 10y ago
  Except much, much, much less capable.
  - dfmooreqqq 10y ago
    Agreed. PowerBI has so much more functionality - and more adding every month. And with the ability to use R to make charts, it has a lot more customizability.
  - pritambarhate 10y ago
    Hopefully this the start of something very powerful.
tibu 10y ago
I think this is their visualization platform for BigQuery
crb 10y ago
The Google Analytics team built a dashboard tool, as part of their "Google Analytics 360" release. Other teams, including Cloud, then worked with them to make it available for other data sources, including Google BigQuery and MySQL.
arsenico 10y ago
This is a fully-fledged basic business intelligence tool, which can chart data from Google Analytics, Google Sheets and MySQL an series of other sources. It is a perfect free alternative to QlikView/Tableau for some simple data projects.

flukus 10y ago

So it's a reporting tool? All the link does is take me to the google sign in page.

chipperyman573 10y ago
Here's a non account-locked page: https://archive.fo/vkplk https://archive.fo/vkplk
- flukus 10y ago
  Thanks. First big issue for me, it's US only. Why on earth does something like this need to be region locked? Second is that it's hosted. That makes it a non-starter for enterprise reporting.
  - aeijdenberg 10y ago
    Probably no reason other than that it takes time and resources to go through all the steps necessary to launch in a region (e.g. localization, legal etc), and it's more effective to get feedback on a beta product early in one region than to delay for many.
  - dogma1138 10y ago
    EU data protection can be in play ATM since they might not have this thing complaint, same goes for other regulations. So the easy thing is to limit it to the US.
    - dmoy 10y ago
      Compliant, as in complying with regulations?
      - sdoering 10y ago
        Exactly. Because we in the EU do not want our customer data (be it personal identifiable information or not) to be transferred to the US without consent of our customers. And rightly so. I am abbreviating massively here, but since the "Safe Harbor" things are actually a little bit more rough around data transfers. Non the less Data Studio is available in Germany, as I have already used it. I might be limited on the data sources though.

hammock 10y ago

I'm sure this is awesome. However if I were a f500 company using this (or in competition with one), I would be careful with what data I put into Google's cloud.

kyrra 10y ago
Why? Has Google ever done anything with their cloud services that cause you to distrust them?
- prplhaz4 10y ago
  Generally, the products Google offers for free involve them using the data you put into it to tailor their products and services to you. Not having examined the EULA, I don't know if this product is similar, but in general, that is the reason my legal department does not react nicely when projects try to bring google products into our ecosystem.
- webmaven 10y ago
  Not the PP, but though I have never come across anything substantive, there have been persistent rumors that Google M&A (and other) folks trawl through GMail to gain competitive advantages and negotiating leverage, particularly vs. startups. OTOH, the rumors are most often of the "my 2nd cousin's mother-in-law's half-brother's secretary's boyfriend's ex-husband" variety, ie. not even anonymous 1st hand claims. Anecdotally, these rumors seem to most often be spread by Enterprise SaaS salespeople.
  - huangwei_chang 10y ago
    I feel those rumors are just incorrect from my previous experience working in Google.
    - cromwellian 10y ago
      Not just wrong but practically impossible.