Look Out! It's Looker Studio! What does this mean for K-12 users?

Yesterday at Google Next 2022, the announcement was made that Google Data Studio has been rebranded as Looker Studio, which was a big surprise to many, especially if you found out by noticing a new name on the interface! 

For those that aren't familiar with Looker, it is a business intelligence software and big data analytics platform which was acquired by Google in 2020. The rebranding of Data Studio as Looker Studio is good news as it shows a continued dedication by Google to provide robust tools for data management and analytics. Yesterday's conference was also filled with exciting conversations about machine learning and artificial intelligence, to continue to allow organizations to gain valuable insights from their data. 

The important thing for those in K-12 education to know is that Looker Studio is still free, and you can continue to use this awesome tool to create and view reports just as you always have. Looker Studio Pro ($) will provide improved asset management, new team collaboration capabilities, and access to technical support.

There's a lot to unpack after yesterday's announcement, and I'm sure there will be more developments in the coming months. But don't freak out! The main thing to know right now is that nothing has really changed for K-12 users of Data Studio, except a name and logo...and the knowledge that Google is continuing to support and innovate tools for creating data-driven experiences. So LOOK to the future and go forth and create!

P.S. While I know this blog is not the most active any more, I don't plan to change the URL or blog name to go with this name change, and probably won't go crazy updating old posts and things. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @tiltondata which is where I'm more active these days!