Why Looker Studio Reports Are Slow ?

Looker Studio can be slow because each chart sends a separate request to the platform’s API, which takes time to respond. The more charts you have, the longer it takes to load your report.
In some cases, this even results in a "[Gateway timeout](/en/article/error-looker-studio-the-gateway-has-timeout-klmti7/)" error, meaning Looker Studio stops waiting for the requests to complete.

How to Speed Up Looker Studio Reports

The best way to improve performance is to introduce a database between the platform’s API and Looker Studio. Here are three options:

Looker Studio Extracted Data Sources

Pros: Easy to set up, fast for small datasets.
Cons: Limited data capacity.
Official documentation : https://support.google.com/looker-studio/answer/9019969?hl=en

Google Sheets Extract (via Catchr)

Pros: Very fast reports when paired with Google Sheets.
Cons: Takes longer to set up.
Video tutorial to extract data into Google Sheet : https://youtu.be/smdENo_G5Bs

BigQuery (via Catchr)

Pros: Handles large datasets, suitable for complex queries.
Cons: Requires more advanced setup. (Tutorial links will be provided).
Video tutorial to populate a BigQuery table : https://youtu.be/IRkQay3BiPU
Helpdesk about BigQuery.

By using one of these databases, you reduce the number of direct API requests and significantly speed up your reports.

Updated on: 25/10/2024