Data blending improvements

Blends have been part of Looker Studio since 2018. As of 2022-02-17, you'll see several improvements.

Functional improvements

Different join conditions between tables

You can now specify different join conditions between pairs of tables in the blend. Previously, every table in the blend had to include the same join condition.

More join operators

You can now use the following join operators when configuring the blend:

• Inner join - Returns only matching rows from the left and right tables.
• Left outer join - Returns matching rows from the right table, plus non-matching rows from the left tables.
• Right outer join - Returns matching rows from the left tables, plus non-matching rows from the right table.
• Full outer join - Returns all matching rows from the left tables or the right table.
• Cross join - Returns every possible combination of rows from the left and right tables.

Previously, you could only use left outer join. To learn more about join conditions and join operators, see How blends work.

User experience

The blend editor looks a little different. You'll now see a join configuration linking each table in the blend. Click the join configuration to edit the join condition and join operator.

Terminology

We've refined the words we use to talk about blending.

Old term	New term	Notes
Blended data source	Blend	A blend has always differed from standard data sources in several ways. Learn more about the differences. The new term helps avoid possible confusion.
Data source (in the blend)	Table	A blend has always been based on tables of data extracted from an underlying data source. The new interface and term makes this fact clearer.
Join key	Join condition	A join condition determines which rows in a pair of tables are considered to be matching. "Join condition" is an industry standard term and more accurately reflects the functionality.
(none)	Join operator	A join operator specifies how the matching and non-matching rows of the tables are combined. This is a new term introduced in this release.
(none)	Join configuration	A join configuration consists of the join conditions and join operator for a given pair of tables in the blend. This is a new term introduced in this release.

Related resources

• How blends work
• Create, edit, and manage blends
• Blending tips and advanced concepts