One of the most common things I get asked about in Looker Studio is: How can I look up related data like I would in Excel with VLOOKUP? The short answer is that while Looker Studio doesn’t have a VLOOKUP function, it does have something just as powerful: data blending.
In this post, I’ll show you how I use data blending to perform lookups in Looker Studio and share a few practical ways it helps me make my reports clearer, richer, and more useful.
Why you might need a Lookup
Let’s say you have a dataset with product IDs but no names. That’s fine for technical reporting, but it’s not easy for most people to interpret. What you really want is to display product names instead of, or alongside, those IDs.
Or maybe you want to add product categories or regions to your sales data, or combine figures from two sources to get a full view of performance. These are all lookup-style use cases.
How I perform Lookups using data blending
Here’s how I usually go about setting up a lookup in Looker Studio:
1. Prepare your datasets
Start with two tables:
- Primary dataset: This is your main data, like sales figures, with product IDs.
- Secondary dataset: This is your lookup table, something like product IDs with their matching names, categories, or regions.
2. Blend the data
Now let’s do the blending:
- Go to Resource → Manage blends → Add a Blend
- Select your primary and secondary datasets
- Choose the common key (like
Product ID) as the join key - Pick the fields you want to bring into the blend. This might include sales data, product names, or categories
Check out the post on blended data sources to see how to create blends in Looker Studio step by step.
3. Use the blended data in charts
Once the blend is created, you can add a chart and use the new blended data source. You’ll now be able to display fields from both tables together, just like you would with a VLOOKUP.
It’s incredibly useful when you want to display readable information, like:
- Product names next to IDs
- Regions for each user or sale
- Campaign types, categories, or any other labels that live in a reference table
Real-world use cases
Here are a few ways I’ve used lookups through blending in my reports:
- Making reports easier to read by replacing cryptic IDs with clear names
- Adding context, like product categories or user types, for deeper analysis
- Combining metrics from different sources, for example, pairing website sessions with CRM data
It’s a flexible solution that goes far beyond simple label replacement.
Things to keep in mind
Like any feature, data blending has a few best practices:
- Data consistency: The join keys must match between datasets. Even small inconsistencies (like spaces or formatting) can prevent a match.
- Performance: Blending very large datasets can slow things down. If you can, try aggregating data before blending.
- Data freshness: Make sure your reference tables update regularly if the underlying data changes.
Visit the post on considerations when creating blends in Looker Studio to read more about the above.
Final thoughts
Looker Studio doesn’t have a built-in VLOOKUP function, but with data blending, you don’t need one. This approach gives you the flexibility to pull in related data, add context, and make your dashboards far more informative.
I use blending regularly to create lookups for product names, categories, regions, and more. Once you get the hang of it, it’s one of those techniques that becomes second nature, and your reports will be better for it.
If you’re looking to take your Looker Studio reports from basic to brilliant, mastering data blending for lookups is a great place to start.