📺 YouTube Data Scraper

A powerful Apify actor that uses the official YouTube Data API v3 to scrape comprehensive channel and video data. Get rich metadata including statistics, thumbnails, engagement metrics, and more - all 100% reliable without getting blocked!

✨ Features

• ✅ 100% Reliable - Uses official YouTube API, never gets blocked
• 📊 Rich Data - Comprehensive metadata for videos and channels
• 🎯 Smart Filtering - Filter by content type (shorts/videos/all)
• 📈 Multiple Sort Options - Sort by newest, oldest, or most popular
• 💰 Free Tier - 10,000 quota units per day (thousands of videos)
• 🚀 Fast & Efficient - Direct API access, no browser automation needed
• 📝 Detailed Analytics - Engagement rates, statistics, and summaries

🎯 What You Can Scrape

Channel Information

• Channel ID, title, handle, custom URL
• Subscriber count, video count, total views
• Channel description, country, creation date
• Channel banner, thumbnails (all sizes)
• Keywords, default language
• Upload playlist ID

Video Data

• Video ID, title, description, URL
• View count, like count, comment count
• Duration (with short detection)
• All thumbnail sizes (including maxres)
• Tags, category, topic categories
• Upload date and timestamp
• Privacy status, license type
• Made for kids status
• Engagement rate calculation
• HD/SD quality, captions availability
• Default audio language

🚀 Quick Start

Step 1: Get Your YouTube API Key (Free)

1. Go to Google Cloud Console

   • Visit: https://console.cloud.google.com/
   • Sign in with your Google account

2. Create a New Project (or select existing)

   • Click "Select a project" → "New Project"
   • Enter project name (e.g., "YouTube Scraper")
   • Click "Create"

3. Enable YouTube Data API v3

   • Go to: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/library
   • Search for "YouTube Data API v3"
   • Click on it and press "ENABLE"

4. Create API Credentials

   • Go to: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/credentials
   • Click "CREATE CREDENTIALS" → "API Key"
   • Your API key will be displayed (looks like: AIzaSyD-9tSrke72PouQMGMb-9WKnxzY2pnnDEo)
   • Click "RESTRICT KEY" for security (recommended)

5. Restrict Your API Key (Recommended)

   • Under "Application restrictions":
     • Select "IP addresses" for server use
     • Or "None" for testing
   • Under "API restrictions":
     • Select "Restrict key"
     • Choose "YouTube Data API v3"
   • Click "Save"

Step 2: Run the Actor

Use your API key in the input:

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY_HERE",
  "channel": "@MrBeast",
  "content_type": "all",
  "max_results": 50,
  "sort_by": "newest"
}

📥 Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
youtube_api_key	String	✅ Yes	-	Your YouTube Data API v3 key
channel	String	✅ Yes	-	Channel input (see formats below)
content_type	String	No	"all"	Filter: "all", "shorts", "videos"
max_results	Integer	No	50	Number of videos to fetch (1-500)
sort_by	String	No	"newest"	Sort order: "newest", "oldest", "popular"

Supported Channel Input Formats

The actor accepts multiple channel input formats:

• Handle: @MrBeast or MrBeast
• Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast
• Channel ID URL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA
• Custom URL: https://www.youtube.com/c/MrBeast6000
• Legacy User URL: https://www.youtube.com/user/MrBeast6000
• Direct Channel ID: UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA

📤 Output Example

{
  "success": true,
  "channel": {
    "channel_id": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
    "title": "MrBeast",
    "custom_url": "https://www.youtube.com/@mrbeast",
    "handle": "mrbeast",
    "description": "SUBSCRIBE FOR A COOKIE!",
    "country": "US",
    "published_at": "2012-02-20T00:43:50Z",
    "statistics": {
      "subscriber_count": 234000000,
      "video_count": 741,
      "view_count": 42853906283
    },
    "thumbnails": {
      "default": { "url": "...", "width": 88, "height": 88 },
      "medium": { "url": "...", "width": 240, "height": 240 },
      "high": { "url": "...", "width": 800, "height": 800 }
    }
  },
  "videos": [
    {
      "video_id": "kX3nB4PpJko",
      "title": "Last To Take Hand Off Jet, Keeps It!",
      "description": "Subscribe to help me win against T-Series...",
      "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX3nB4PpJko",
      "published_at": "2024-06-01T12:00:09Z",
      "duration": {
        "iso8601": "PT17M49S",
        "seconds": 1069,
        "human_readable": "17m 49s",
        "is_short": false
      },
      "statistics": {
        "view_count": 149823447,
        "like_count": 5234122,
        "comment_count": 89234
      },
      "engagement_rate": 3.5523,
      "thumbnails": {
        "maxres": { "url": "...", "width": 1280, "height": 720 }
      },
      "tags": ["mrbeast", "challenge", "jet"],
      "content_type": "video"
    }
  ],
  "summary": {
    "total_videos_fetched": 50,
    "total_views": 4234567890,
    "total_likes": 123456789,
    "shorts_count": 12,
    "videos_count": 38
  },
  "api_usage": {
    "api_calls_made": 3,
    "estimated_quota_used": 103,
    "daily_quota_limit": 10000,
    "quota_remaining": 9897
  }
}

💡 API Quota Information

Free Tier Limits

• 10,000 quota units per day (resets at midnight Pacific Time)
• Most operations cost 1 unit
• Search operations cost 100 units
• You can typically fetch thousands of videos per day

Quota Costs

Operation	Quota Cost	Videos per 10,000 quota
Get channel info	1 unit	-
List videos	1 unit	~10,000 videos
Search channel	100 units	~100 searches

Need More Quota?

1. Go to: https://console.cloud.google.com/apis/api/youtube.googleapis.com/quotas
2. Click "EDIT QUOTAS"
3. Request increase (can get 50,000-1,000,000 units/day)
4. Fill form with use case
5. Usually approved within 24-48 hours

🔍 Use Cases

• Content Analysis - Analyze channel performance and trends
• Competitor Research - Track competitor channels and strategies
• Market Research - Study content trends in your niche
• Data Collection - Build datasets for ML/AI projects
• Social Media Monitoring - Track brand mentions and engagement
• Content Planning - Identify successful content patterns

🛠️ Advanced Features

Filter by Content Type

• "all" - Get all videos
• "shorts" - Only YouTube Shorts (≤60 seconds)
• "videos" - Only regular videos (>60 seconds)

Sort Options

• "newest" - Most recent videos first
• "oldest" - Oldest videos first
• "popular" - Most viewed videos first

Batch Processing

Set max_results up to 500 to fetch large batches efficiently.

Advanced Usage Examples

Example 1: Get Latest Shorts from a Channel

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@NatGeo",
  "content_type": "shorts",
  "max_results": 20,
  "sort_by": "newest"
}

Example 2: Analyze Most Popular Videos

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@TED",
  "content_type": "videos",
  "max_results": 100,
  "sort_by": "popular"
}

Example 3: Get Channel's First Videos

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "https://www.youtube.com/@LinusTechTips",
  "content_type": "all",
  "max_results": 50,
  "sort_by": "oldest"
}

Example 4: Using Channel ID Directly

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "UCX6OQ3DkcsbYNE6H8uQQuVA",
  "content_type": "all",
  "max_results": 25,
  "sort_by": "newest"
}

Example 5: Music Channel Analysis

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@BillieEilish",
  "content_type": "videos",
  "max_results": 200,
  "sort_by": "popular"
}

Example 6: News Channel Recent Shorts

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@CNN",
  "content_type": "shorts",
  "max_results": 30,
  "sort_by": "newest"
}

Example 7: Gaming Channel Full Catalog

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@PewDiePie",
  "content_type": "all",
  "max_results": 500,
  "sort_by": "newest"
}

Example 8: Educational Content

{
  "youtube_api_key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
  "channel": "@veritasium",
  "content_type": "videos",
  "max_results": 50,
  "sort_by": "popular"
}

🚨 Troubleshooting

Common Errors

Error	Solution
"API key not valid"	Check if key is correct and YouTube Data API v3 is enabled
"Quota exceeded"	Wait for daily reset or request quota increase
"Channel not found"	Verify channel exists and try different input format
"Access Not Configured"	Enable YouTube Data API v3 in Google Cloud Console

Getting Help

1. Check the error message in the output
2. Verify your API key is valid
3. Ensure YouTube Data API v3 is enabled
4. Check quota usage in Google Cloud Console
5. Try with a different channel to isolate issues

📝 Changelog

Version 1.0.0 (2024-09-14)

• Initial release
• Full YouTube Data API v3 integration
• Channel and video data extraction
• Shorts detection and filtering
• Engagement metrics calculation
• Comprehensive error handling

📄 License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License.

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Note: This actor uses the official YouTube Data API v3 and complies with YouTube's Terms of Service. Always respect content creators' rights and YouTube's usage policies.