Stuck with Looker Studio and SA360? Here’s How to Master Aggregation in 2025

Stuck with Looker Studio and SA360? Here’s How to Master Aggregation in 2025

If you’ve ever stared at your SA360 campaign data in Looker Studio, wondering how to make sense of the endless rows of numbers, you’re not alone. Aggregation is supposed to simplify your life, but it can quickly turn into a headache when you’re not sure how to apply it to your paid search campaigns.

Take a deep breath—you’re not stuck, and you’re definitely not alone. In this guide, we’ll walk through how to use Looker Studio aggregation to turn those overwhelming data dumps into dashboards that actually help you make decisions. Let’s tackle this together.

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What’s the Problem with Aggregation?

You probably know this scenario: your boss asks for a quick report on impression share trends, and you panic because your Looker Studio dashboard is showing the wrong numbers. The totals don’t make sense, averages feel off, and you’re ready to go back to spreadsheets.

Here’s why it happens: aggregation in Looker Studio defaults to basic functions like sum or average, which don’t always work for nuanced paid search data. Metrics like cost per conversion or return on ad spend (ROAS) require a little finesse to calculate correctly. And when you bring SA360 data into the mix, things can get even trickier.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. With a few tweaks and tricks, you can set up a dashboard that works with your data instead of against it.

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Step 1: Start with the Basics—Impressions and Clicks

Let’s warm up with something simple: aggregating impressions and clicks.

When you pull in SA360 data, Looker Studio will often default to summing these metrics. That’s fine for a high-level overview, but what if you need to break it down by campaign, device, or even keyword? Use tables and line charts to add clarity:

Use case: You want to compare clicks across campaigns.

Solution: Create a table visualization with "Campaign Name" as the dimension and SUM(Clicks) as the metric.

Pro Tip: Add conditional formatting to highlight campaigns with unusually high or low click volumes.

Suddenly, you’ve got a clear view of where people are actually engaging with your ads.

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Step 2: Budget Pacing Without the Headaches

Let’s talk about budgets. If you’ve ever spent half a day explaining why your campaign overspent, this one’s for you.

Budget pacing is one of the most useful applications of aggregation. To do this in Looker Studio:

1. Create a calculated field for your daily budget:

Daily Budget = Monthly Budget / Days in Month

2. Compare it to your actual spend using a line chart:

Dimension: Date

Metrics: Daily Budget (static) and Spend (dynamic from SA360)

This setup lets you see if your spend is on track or if you need to make mid-month adjustments. No more guessing—and no more surprise conversations with your finance team.

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Step 3: Nail Down Your Cost Per Conversion

Here’s where things get tricky. If you’re working with SA360, you know how critical cost per conversion (CPC) is for optimizing campaigns. Unfortunately, Looker Studio doesn’t calculate this for you automatically when blending data from multiple sources.

Here’s how to fix it:

1. Create a calculated field for CPC:

CPC = SUM(Cost) / SUM(Conversions)

2. Use a bar chart to compare CPC across campaigns or ad groups.

3. Highlight outliers to identify opportunities for optimization.

Why it matters: Seeing which campaigns are eating up your budget for minimal conversions can help you reallocate resources to what’s actually working.

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Step 4: Don’t Overlook Impression Share

Feeling invisible? If your impression share isn’t where you want it to be, it’s time to dig into the data.

Search Impression Share % tells you how visible your ads are compared to your competition. But here’s the catch: simply summing up impression share values across campaigns doesn’t give you a clear picture.

Here’s the trick:

Use a line chart to display daily trends for impression share.

Add a filter to isolate specific campaigns or devices.

This way, you can spot patterns, like whether your impression share is dropping on mobile, and take action—like adjusting bids or budgets to stay competitive.

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Step 5: ROAS—The Holy Grail

Let’s talk about ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). This is the metric your clients or boss actually care about. It’s not just about how much you spent; it’s about how much you made from that spend.

How to calculate ROAS in Looker Studio:

1. Create a calculated field:

ROAS = SUM(Revenue) / SUM(Cost)

2. Use a scorecard to display your overall ROAS.

3. Break it down with a bar chart to see which campaigns or keywords are driving the most value.

Pro Tip: If your ROAS is low for high-spending campaigns, it’s a red flag. Dive deeper into those campaigns to identify issues with targeting, ad copy, or landing pages.

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Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)

1. Blended Data Overload

When you’re blending data from multiple sources (like Google Ads and SA360), it’s easy to run into errors. Keep your join keys simple (e.g., Campaign Name + Date) and ensure all metrics are aggregated consistently.

2. Misaligned Aggregation

Aggregating averages and totals together can lead to misleading numbers. Double-check your formulas to ensure you’re comparing apples to apples.

3. Ignoring Filters

Filters can make or break your dashboard. Use them to segment data by device, location, or campaign type for deeper insights.

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Why This Matters in 2025

Paid search in 2025 is more competitive than ever. Whether you’re working with SA360 or other platforms, the ability to aggregate and visualize data effectively in Looker Studio is a game-changer. It’s not just about creating pretty dashboards—it’s about making smarter decisions that drive results.

So, if you’ve been feeling stuck, take a step back and start small. Nail down your impressions, clicks, and costs before diving into more advanced metrics like ROAS or impression share. And remember: the key is to keep tweaking until your dashboard works for you.

Now, go tackle that next report like a pro—and never let aggregation trip you up again.

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Let me know if this hits the mark or if you’d like more step-by-step examples!