The platform or product that contains the data that you would like to query in Looker Studio.
The data set is the system outside of Looker Studio where your collected data actually resides. Examples include a specific Google Analytics property or view, one or more Google Ads manager sub-accounts, a set of Display & Video 360 advertisers, a BigQuery table or query, a Google Sheets spreadsheet, a Facebook Ads account, etc.
You can also store data sets on Google servers by uploading CSV files.
In Looker Studio, connecting to your data involves the following components:
- Connectors connect Looker Studio to your underlying data. Connecting to your data creates a data source in Looker Studio.
- Data sources represent a particular instance of a connector: for example, a connection to a specific BigQuery table or query, a Google Analytics property, or a Google Sheet. Data sources let you configure the fields and options provided by the connector used to create that connection instance. In addition, the data source gives you a secure way to share information and insights with report viewers who may not be able to directly access the underlying data.