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INFRA · APISANALYTICS
Velocity7.5

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BigQuery doubles down on Iceberg, graph, and global data sharing as the lakehouse fight intensifies.

lakehouseicebergdata-sharinggovernancegraph-analyticsconversational-ai
◆Current state
BigQuery's May 2026 ship list is dominated by three tracks: open-format lakehouse integration (Iceberg v3 with deletion vectors, REST catalog support in Conversational Analytics), graph capabilities maturing inside BigQuery Studio, and global data exchange via multi-region sharing listings reaching GA. Alongside the feature work, Google is tightening Data Transfer Service security (MFA on Google Ads transfers) and warning about Ads retention changes that will cap historical backfills from June 1. The release notes show a mature warehouse continuing to absorb adjacent workloads rather than reinventing itself.
◆Where it's heading
BigQuery is positioning itself as the federated query and sharing fabric for a multi-format world, with Iceberg getting closer to first-class status and Conversational Analytics extending across external catalogs. The graph and notebook work signals a push to keep more analytical work inside Studio instead of bouncing to specialized tools. Expect continued layering of governance, AI-assisted query, and open-table support on top of the existing engine rather than core engine reinvention.
◆Prediction
Next obvious step is GA for Iceberg v3 features and full conversational graph querying without Preview gating. Watch for additional first-party data sources getting MFA mandates, mirroring the Google Ads tightening.

◆Recent moves

  1. 13d ago

    BigQuery May 2026 - Multi-region sharing listings GA and Data Transfer Service updates

    Bundled May digest covering multi-region sharing GA, a billing label refresh, materialized views over CDC tables going GA, and SQL cells in notebooks reaching GA. Most of these graduate existing previews; together they fill out the warehouse's everyday surface area.

  2. 14d ago

    MFA required for new Google Ads data transfers

    Mandatory MFA on new Google Ads data transfers is a defensive hardening of one of the most heavily used DTS connectors. Fits Google Cloud's broader push to make first-party transfers depend on identity, not just service accounts.

    View source ↗
  3. 15d ago

    BigQuery Data Transfer Service connectors Google Ads data retention policy change

  4. 15d ago

    BigQuery ML ARIMA_PLUS_XREG model support for feature columns

    ARIMA_PLUS_XREG gains support for additional feature column types — incremental ML reach inside SQL with limited surface impact.

  5. 15d ago

    BigQuery sharing listings for multiple regions

    Multi-region sharing listings hit GA, enabling cross-geo dataset distribution from a single configuration. Cements BigQuery's data-exchange story as the warehouse's go-to-market wedge against Snowflake's Marketplace.

  6. 15d ago

    BigQuery May 2026 - Graph features, Iceberg v3, and Conversational Analytics

    ⚡ SPARK

    The graph modeler, Iceberg v3 with deletion vectors, and Conversational Analytics over external Iceberg catalogs land together in Preview. This is the directional move of the month: BigQuery treating Iceberg-format data and graph data as first-class without engine forks.