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This is probably not possible but...

I'm looking to update cells in a Google spreadsheet using the conditional formatting tool.(Changes to SERPs rankings)

So when the number in a cell is changed, it recognises if the number was greater or lesser than the current number and then changes the cell colour to red for lesser and green for greater.

So it needs to be able to store the last changed figure in order to make the decision, it doesn't look to be achievable from the conditional formatting options.

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With Google Apps Script, it is possible. –  Jacob Jan Tuinstra Jan 24 '13 at 11:51
Thanks for that I'll see if I can work that out. –  bbacarat Jan 24 '13 at 12:03
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This is not possible as far as I can tell. Google's conditional formatting is not very robust.

Here is Google's Conditional formatting help, although I don't think it's very helpful in your situation. It doesn't appear you can even use a cell value for the conditional formatting.


I found this link recently. It's much more complicated, but you can do what you want using their Javascript API.

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Other than Google Drive and hiring someone to build us a web app, Does anyone know of any any other websites/apps that allow you to build online commission calculators that can offer this kind of functionality? –  bbacarat Jan 24 '13 at 11:56
How long should it retain the colour change for? (The lnegth of time that the current user has the file open for? A week? A month? etc). Also - what should happen to the formatting if the cell changes again, a 2nd time? TBH, when I hear questions like, this, it makes me think you are trying to use a spreadsheet for a job that really needs a database –  MaryC.fromNZ Feb 20 at 17:37
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