Looker Studio · Status at source date: Newsletter archive
Looker 26.4 adds Gemini across analytics, search, and expressions
Google has released Looker 26.4, a substantial update that extends Gemini AI capabilities across multiple layers of the platform. The most significant addition for analytics teams is a new set of modes in Conversational Analytics: Fast mode delivers quicker answers for straightforward queries, while Thinking mode enables deeper reasoning for complex analytical questions: offering a meaningful capability split that was previously unavailable within a single interface.
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What changed
The Visualisation Assistant, which lets users customise chart formatting using natural language, has moved to general availability after a preview period. The Self-service Explores feature: which allows end users to build and save their own Explore queries without LookML developer support: is now also generally available. A new Expression Assistant uses Gemini to help write Looker expressions for table calculations and custom fields, available in preview.
Enhanced Search, also in preview, uses Gemini to interpret the conceptual meaning of search queries rather than matching keywords. Searching for "total customer acquisition cost" should surface relevant content even when those exact words are absent from dashboard names. Content certification has been expanded to include LookML Explores alongside dashboards, allowing admins to automatically certify all current and future LookML content.
Why it matters for advertisers
For you, this means Looker's AI surface is expanding rapidly: teams that have deferred adoption of Conversational Analytics should revisit it, as Fast and Thinking modes materially change the interface's usefulness for different query types.
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Looker 26.4 adds Gemini across analytics, search, and expressions
Google has released Looker 26.4, a substantial update that extends Gemini AI capabilities across multiple layers of the platform. The most significant addition for analytics teams is a new set of modes in Conversational Analytics: Fast mode delivers quicker answers for straightforward queries, while Thinking mode enables deeper reasoning for complex analytical questions: offering a meaningful capability split that was previously unavailable within a single interface.
The Visualisation Assistant, which lets users customise chart formatting using natural language, has moved to general availability after a preview period. The Self-service Explores feature: which allows end users to build and save their own Explore queries without LookML developer support: is now also generally available. A new Expression Assistant uses Gemini to help write Looker expressions for table calculations and custom fields, available in preview.
Enhanced Search, also in preview, uses Gemini to interpret the conceptual meaning of search queries rather than matching keywords. Searching for "total customer acquisition cost" should surface relevant content even when those exact words are absent from dashboard names. Content certification has been expanded to include LookML Explores alongside dashboards, allowing admins to automatically certify all current and future LookML content.
For you, this means Looker's AI surface is expanding rapidly: teams that have deferred adoption of Conversational Analytics should revisit it, as Fast and Thinking modes materially change the interface's usefulness for different query types.
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