Looker
Summary
SaaS business intelligence platform that infuses data into operational workflows.
Parent organisation: Google / Alphabet [Acquisition announced but deal not closed at time of writing]
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Features and pricing tailored to users’ circumstances.
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Customer size
Skills needed to set-up: Needs tool/domain expert to configure
Skills needed to use: Needs tool/domain expert for ongoing use
Parent organisation: Google / Alphabet [Acquisition announced but deal not closed at time of writing]
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Features and pricing tailored to users’ circumstances.
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Customer size
Skills needed to set-up: Needs tool/domain expert to configure
Skills needed to use: Needs tool/domain expert for ongoing use
Pros
Releases new features regularly
Clear data policies
Allows data deletion
Cons
Newsworthy business issues/challenges - UK government launches antitrust investigation of Google-Looker deal
Lack pricing transparency
Lacks accessibility statement
Does not share diversity data
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Looker |
| Product URL | https://looker.com/ |
| Parent organisation | Google / Alphabet [Acquisition announced but deal not closed at time of writing] |
| Workflow category | Measurement & evaluation |
| Date product founded | 2011 |
| Product description | SaaS business intelligence platform that infuses data into operational workflows. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Publicly-listed company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | Cannot determine |
| How is this product funded? | Subscriptions |
| What market share does the tool have? | One of the leading products (#3-7) |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | No |
| When did the company last release new features? | November 2019: Improved embedded experiences; easier to use APIs; marketplace for plug-ins, visualizations, models, and connections. |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | No |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | Yes, as noted above: Google deal announced but not closed. |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | Yes. UK government launches antitrust investigation of Google-Looker deal |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Yes |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Not clear; must speak to salesperson |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Features and pricing tailored to users’ circumstances. |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features, More users (publishing-side), More audience (e.g. more subscribers, traffic), Customer size |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Needs tool/domain expert to configure |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Needs tool/domain expert for ongoing use |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Cannot tell |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | No |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Technical, legalistic TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | Yes, GDPR compliant globally |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | N/A not an audience facing tool |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | N/A not an audience facing tool |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | No / cannot tell |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for publisher data only |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | No |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | No |