Cloud Data Studio

Google Cloud Data Studio (now called Looker Studio) is a free, web-based data visualization and business intelligence tool that helps you create interactive dashboards and reports from various data sources. It connects to BigQuery, Google Sheets, Google Analytics, and many other sources.

Key Features:

1. Free to use - Completely free with no licensing costs for basic use.

2. Multiple data sources - Connects to 800+ data sources via partner connectors.

3. Interactive reports - Viewers can apply filters, drill down, and interact with data.

4. Collaboration - Share reports and dashboards with teams just like Google Docs.

5. Calculated fields - Create custom metrics and dimensions using formula editor.

The below example shows how to connect Data Studio to BigQuery via the Looker Studio API to embed a report.

It gives the following output,

Embed URL: https://datastudio.google.com/embed/reporting/abc123-def456-ghi789/page/p_sales_overview?ds0.connector=bigQuery&...
Iframe HTML generated successfully

Data Studio Chart Types:

Time series - Track metrics over time; ideal for trend analysis.

Scorecard - Display a single key metric prominently.

Bar/Column chart - Compare values across categories.

Pie/Donut chart - Show proportional distribution.

Table - Display detailed data in rows and columns with sorting and pagination.

Geo map - Visualize geographic data on a world map.