Google’s Data GIF Maker lets you easily make basic data GIFs

Google’s News Lab launched a new tool for making basic data GIFs today. While the Data GIF Maker is mostly geared toward journalists, anybody can use it to make some halfway interesting visuals based on all kinds of data.

But don’t get too excited yet. Not only does it take a bit of manual work to make these GIFs, the tool isn’t especially flexible either. This isn’t some GIF-centric version of the Google Data Studio. Instead, you can use it only to compare stats about two different topics over time (Trump/Hillary, iPhone/Android, etc.). It’s not going to instantly turn your next TED talk into a classic, either.

“We typically use the tool to represent competing search interest, but it can show whatever you want it to—polling numbers, sales figures, movie ratings, etc.,” the team behind this new tool explains in today’s announcement.

To get started, you pick your two topics, enter your data in a comma-separated list, write a few words about what your readers are looking at and then let the tool do its work in creating a GIF for you (which can actually take a while). And that’s it. Now go forth and make some data GIFs.