Chapter 13: Advanced Controls & Parameters

In the previous lessons we learned about parameters and how to use them in Looker Studio.

In this chapter we will talk about Advanced Control and Parameters.

In particular, we will discuss:

Filtering Blended Data
Filtering across Data Sources
Parameter Scopes
Using a Parameter across Data Sources

We will also cover Chart Interactions, Metric Sliders, Optional Metrics, Dimension Drill Down, and lastly, Custom Link Navigation.

13.1. The Limitation of Controls Across Data Sources

Filtering Across Data Sources

In this lesson, we'll discuss a limitation in Looker Studio: filtering across different data sources. Most of our discussions have focused on what you can do in Looker Studio, but it's essential to be aware of its limitations.

Filtering in Looker Studio works only across data sources of the same type, meaning those created by the same data connector. For example, if you have two different Google Analytics data sources from two different domains, they can be filtered together since they were both created using the same connector.

Suppose you have four data sources: two Google Analytics data sources, a Google Sheet, and a Google Ads source. All of them have a field called "country" (or something similar like "country/territory"). As humans, we understand that these fields represent the same information. However, controls in Looker Studio cannot filter charts based on different data source types.

Example: Filtering Limitations

Imagine a control (in yellow) that's connected to a Google Analytics data source. If you filter by "United States," the charts based on Google Analytics data sources will refresh to display data only from the United States. However, the charts based on the Google Sheet and Google Ads data sources will not change. They cannot be cross-filtered since they come from different data connectors.

The same applies to filtering by the Google Sheet or Google Ads data sources - only the corresponding charts will be affected.

A Potential Workaround…

There might be instances where you want to force Looker Studio to filter across different data sources, even though it's not designed to do so. In the next lesson, we will explore a workaround to help you achieve this.