A Marketing Dashboard in Data Studio (Formerly Looker Studio)

The sources are Google's Data Studio documentation: the welcome page (which explains the name change), the connector pages for Google Analytics, Google Ads and Search Console, and the pages on data credentials, data freshness and sharing reports; plus the Google Analytics Data API quotas and Google Analytics Help on BigQuery Export. Deciding which numbers belong in a monthly report is covered in our guide to a simple monthly website report; this guide is about building the dashboard.

Looker Studio is Data Studio again

Google's welcome page says: "In April 2026, the Looker Studio product name returned to its original name: Data Studio." The product now lives at datastudio.google.com, and Google notes that "you don't need to update your reports for this change" because the old lookerstudio.google.com address redirects. If your company's network only allows listed websites, IT may need to add the new domain. Many tutorials and agency proposals still say Looker Studio; they mean the same tool. Google describes it as "a no-cost tool", with a paid Pro edition for enterprise collaboration and administration.

Connecting GA4, Google Ads and Search Console

Each source is added as a data source through a Google connector: in Data Studio, choose Create, then Data Source, pick the connector and authorise access. What each connector needs, per Google's pages:

• Google Analytics: at least "Read & Analyze" permission on the GA4 property. You can use any field in the Google Analytics Data API, including your custom dimensions and metrics. Our GA4 basics guide covers setting those up.
• Google Ads: a data source connects to one account you have access to; with a manager (MCC) account you can include "up to 50 sub-accounts per data source". Choosing Overall Account Fields gives you all Google Ads fields in one list. Campaigns and ad groups with zero impressions do not appear.
• Search Console: sign in with the same Google account as Search Console, with at least view permission on the property. You then choose Site Impression or URL Impression. Google explains that these are two different ways of counting, and "a single data source can only use one of these"; to compare them, add two data sources to the same report. See our Search Console guide for what the numbers mean.

If you manage several accounts, Google suggests a data control, which lets viewers switch accounts in one report instead of maintaining a copy per client.

Who sees the data: credentials

Every data source has a credentials setting, and it decides who can see the numbers. Google lists three types:

• Owner's Credentials "let other people view or create reports that use this data without requiring them to have their own access to the dataset." This is the usual choice for a client or management dashboard. Google notes it "does not grant other people the right to access the dataset directly."
• Viewer's Credentials require each viewer to have their own access; people without it "won't be able to view the data in reports".
• Service Account Credentials are only for BigQuery data sources in Google Workspace or Cloud Identity organisations.

Because Owner's Credentials run on one person's access, use an account that will not disappear when a staff member or contractor leaves. Our guide to what you should own when your website is built covers keeping analytics and ad accounts in the business's name.

How fresh the numbers are

Data Studio remembers query results for a while instead of asking the source every time. Google's freshness page says that "Google marketing and measurement products, such as Google Ads, Google Analytics, Campaign Manager 360, Search Console, YouTube Analytics, and others, refresh every 12 hours" by default. Its table shows Google Analytics can be set to every 1 or 4 hours; Google Ads, Search Console and other Google ad and measurement products stay at 12 hours; Google Sheets defaults to every 15 minutes.

Report editors can refresh at any time, and viewers can too if "Viewer data refresh" is turned on in report settings, with a one-minute cooldown between refreshes. A dashboard is for trends over days and weeks; for what is happening this minute, use the source tool.

Limits and differences to expect

• GA4 quotas. Reports on GA4 data are subject to the Google Analytics Data API quotas, and "reports that exceed these quotas may display an error message." The quota page lists, for a standard property, 200,000 core tokens per property per day and 40,000 per hour, with tokens used according to rows, columns, filters and date range. Many charts on one page with long date ranges use more.
• Matches reports, not explorations. Google says Data Studio "will match the data, but not the explorations" in GA4, and that "Google Analytics 4 segments and comparisons are not available" through the connector.
• Session counts in stacked bar charts. Google documents a case where complex filters combined with dimensions such as ISO Year ISO Week can double-count sessions, and suggests standard date dimensions like Date or Month.

The heavier route is the GA4 BigQuery export, which copies raw event data into BigQuery for Data Studio to read. Google Analytics Help says standard properties have "a daily BigQuery Export limit of 1 million events", that you can use the free BigQuery sandbox but "exports that exceed the sandbox limits incur charges", and Data Studio's freshness page warns that BigQuery's usual query costs apply to every refresh. For most small business dashboards the direct GA4 connector is enough.

Sharing the dashboard

Google's sharing page lists the options: invite people or Google Groups to view or edit; turn on link sharing so "anyone in your organization or on the web" can view, "even if they don't have a Google account"; schedule a PDF by email; download a PDF; or embed the report in a website. Editing always needs a Google account. Link sharing to anyone on the web makes the figures public, so for client or revenue data, invite named people instead.

A simple one-page layout

• A date range control at the top, defaulting to the last 28 days compared with the previous period.
• A row of scorecards: key events (enquiries, sales), sessions, ad cost and cost per key event.
• A time series of key events by week.
• A table of traffic sources with sessions and key events, using your UTM campaign names.
• Google Ads campaigns with cost, clicks and conversions.
• Search Console queries and pages with clicks, impressions and average position.

Name each chart in plain words and add a short text note for any change that explains a jump, such as a new campaign or a site launch.

Frequently asked questions

Is Looker Studio the same as Data Studio?

Yes. Google's documentation says that in April 2026 the Looker Studio product name returned to its original name, Data Studio, with the product at datastudio.google.com. Existing reports do not need updating; lookerstudio.google.com redirects to the new domain.

Does Data Studio cost anything?

Google describes Data Studio as a no-cost tool. Costs can come from what you connect to it: BigQuery charges its usual query costs whenever Data Studio queries a project, including automatic and manual refreshes. There is also a paid Data Studio Pro edition with extra administration features.

Why does my dashboard show different numbers from GA4?

Google says Data Studio will match the data in Google Analytics reports but not in explorations. GA4 segments and comparisons are not available through the connector, and some filter and date combinations can inflate session counts in stacked bar charts.

How often does the data update?

For Google Ads, Google Analytics, Search Console and other Google marketing products, Google's freshness page says the data refreshes every 12 hours by default; Google Analytics can be set to every 1 or 4 hours. Editors can refresh manually, and viewers can if the report allows it.

Can a client see the report without access to our Google Analytics?

Yes, if the data source uses Owner's Credentials: viewers see the data through the credential owner's access, without getting access to the account itself. With Viewer's Credentials, each person needs their own access to the data.

Want your website set up so the dashboard has the right events to show? See our website development service and all our services, or email [email protected].