The following image illustrates the Business Intelligence and Reports application Business Intelligence|Criteria page:

The Business Intelligence|Criteria Page
The Criteria page defines which data to use when running the BI query. For example, if you will be enabling other users to run your BI query, the criteria can be used to give the users search criteria to filter their search results. For example, enable them to search for customers by Country. If you want to lock criteria to your query, thus preventing users from changing the criteria, you can create a filter. For more information, refer to Working with BI Criteria.