Do you know Google Data Studio, part of the Google Analytics 360 suite?“Another analytical tool?” , “More dashboards?”... and maybe also:”Another Google solution”? Yes, yes, and yes in response to these possible questions you may ask yourself - but not only that: Google Data Studio is more of a tool for Business intelligence to take into account in your arsenal, as long as you clearly identify what you can do with it... and your alternatives in this area.What is Google Data Studio? A reminder.Google Analytics already gives you access to a large amount of data and customizable reports. So you may be wondering what can Google Data Studio, which arrived in France in autumn 2016 and is available in free and premium versions, be used for? Google Data Studio allows transform your data into aesthetic reports that are above all easy to read, share and customize. Initially limited to 5 reports, the free version is now no longer capped on this point. It comes in the form of one or more blank pages. You add tables, images, texts, graphics, and various formatting styles as you wish to highlight your varied data.
The Personalized reporting is king. With interactive, targeted and dynamic reports (which evolve in real time), the tool proposed by Google makes it possible to alleviate the burden of companies and professionals who are often overwhelmed by a growing number of data.Its role therefore goes further than a “simple” digestible presentation of data. Google Data Studio indeed also allows you to aggregate multi-source data, such as your own data, data from third party sites, and of course data from Google. The fluidity of crossing between MySQL, BigQuery, Sheets, Sheets, Attribution 360, Attribution 360, Search Console, DoubleClick, YouTube, CSV, Google Analytics data or even Adwords data is yours! Les main strengths of Data Studio include in particular:
- One smooth interface, clear and quick to learn;
- La data visualization from different sources;
- One easy to use visual editing interface, where you can create graphics by dragging and dropping your elements;
- A real collaborative dimension integrated into the Data Studio; customers, partners or collaborators can access (or contribute) to your reports as you wish. Sharing works via the recipient's Gmail address, or simply by sending a dedicated URL.
- Of advanced report customization capabilities taking into account your graphic charter (logo, colors...);
- Of built-in templates to help you build your first relationships;
- The possibility of duplicate your models reports or pages;
- Of filters advanced customizable, making it a very flexible tool;
- Google Sheets as an intermediary: where the aggregation of data from different APIs and sources could have been a gas factory, the Data Studio allows you to use Google Sheets as middleman during data source movements.
The current limitations of Google Data Studio While Google Data Studio has many advantages for it, several points still need to be clarified and may be negative in the context of your business:
- Data ownership is still unclear
Once you use Google tools, who owns the third-party data that goes through them? And especially in the case of those sent to Google Data Studio? It is still unclear who owns the data sent in this tool. Our advice is that if you're handling sensitive or highly confidential information, it's best to wait until you get more information about the security and rights associated with that data.
- Analytical features that are lacking
While Google Data Studio is a good basis for developing your Business Intelligence strategy, several analytical functionalities are still lacking (or are a bit too “light” to provide real answers): conditional expressions (If...), difference calculations, etc. Likewise, functionalities such as “groups and bins” management or the Data Blending, as Tableau allows for example, is not yet possible in Data Studio.
- Native connectors still limited
Multi-sources is good. The possibility of aggregating all the sources relevant to your business would be even better! This is one of the major limitations of Google Data Studio today. In its current form, the native connectors offered in the interface offer some third-party services and data from Google solutions, but this becomes more difficult when you want to easily take into account data from other types of sources, such as social networks. Facebook and Twitter, for example, will have to “be milled” via Google Sheets, for lack of an immediate connector. Few surprises on this side, however: we remain in the universe of a Google tool, which by default is very standardized (and this despite the possibilities of advanced customization of reports!). One of the only approaches to using your social data would be to export what you are interested in from the network in question to Google Sheets, to organize your data well, and then to integrate it into the Data Studio. Feasibility, but far from ideal!What are the alternatives to Google Data Studio? Today, there are alternatives to Google Data Studio, whether you want to leave the Google ecosystem for this type of data processing, or simply if the solution does not suit you 100%. For example, DashThis announces functionalities similar to those of Google (including collaboration), with the addition of the possibility of connecting more than thirty data sources without specific technical knowledge. We can also mention Table, whose approach is more oriented”desktop application” than Google Data Studio, but which allows you to connect to hundreds of data sources.Microsoft is not left behind with Power BI, her”suite of marketing analysis tools that provide insights across your organization” .And of course, what Alphalyr offers you!La Alphalyr solution, online and offline sales management, which allows decision-makers to receive their contextualized KPIs to act on a daily basis. Alphalyr delivers reliable and relevant reports every morning, with multiple data sources. Unlike the Google solution, which requires a real effort to configure and create each dashboard, with Alphalyr, you can focus on exploiting the data. Alphalyr collects multi-source data automatically and delivers personalized and contextualized analysesLess time spent creating dashboards means more time available for analysis and data management!For Learn more.Discover our comparison Alphalyr vs Google Data Studio
