Youtube Thumbnail Search Scraper

YouTube Thumbnail Search Scraper: find videos by keyword and get their thumbnails, titles, channels and views

YouTube Thumbnail Search Scraper turns a YouTube keyword search into a spreadsheet of videos with their thumbnail image URLs. For each result you get the video title, channel name, formatted view count, video ID and the direct link to the full-size thumbnail. It is for creators studying what thumbnails rank in their niche, marketers collecting design references, and researchers building video lists.

• Search by keyword, not by URL. Give it topics and it finds the videos. You don't need to know any video links in advance.
• Several keywords per run. Each keyword is searched separately and results are returned in one dataset.
• Four sort orders. relevance, rating, upload_date or view_count.
• Full-size thumbnail link. The thumbnail field points to YouTube's maxresdefault.jpg image (1280x720 when YouTube has it).
• No login, simple pricing. No YouTube account, API key or proxy setup. See the Pricing tab for the current model. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or Google Sheets.

Scope: This actor lists thumbnail URLs for search results. It does not download image files. To save the actual images from known video URLs, use YouTube Thumbnail Downloader. For transcripts or comments, see YouTube Transcript Scraper and YouTube Comments Scraper.

What can you do with YouTube Thumbnail Search Scraper?

Goal	How
Study thumbnails in a niche	Search your topic with sortBy set to view_count and review the thumbnail images.
Find the newest videos	Use sortBy upload_date and read title, channel and id.
Build a swipe file	Export thumbnail and title to a sheet, then download the images you like.
Competitor and channel scan	Search a brand or topic and group results by channel.
Collect video IDs for later	Use id as a stable key, then feed the video URLs to other YouTube actors.

How it compares

What you need	YouTube Thumbnail Search Scraper	Manual searching and screenshots	Official YouTube Data API
Discover videos by term	Yes, several keywords per run	Yes, but slow	Yes, with daily quota limits
Thumbnail URL per video	Included	Screenshots by hand	Included
Setup	None	None	Google project and API key
Export	JSON, CSV, Excel, API	Copy-paste	Your own code

Input

{
  "keywords": ["funny cats", "javascript tutorial"],
  "maxResultsPerKeyword": 10,
  "sortBy": "view_count"
}

Field	Type	Description
keywords	array	Search terms. One search is run per keyword.
maxResultsPerKeyword	integer	Maximum videos per keyword. Default 50, minimum 1.
sortBy	string	relevance (default), rating, upload_date or view_count.

Output

{
  "title": "Funny Cats Compilation (Most Popular) Part 1",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "channel": "The Pet Collective",
  "views": "61,096,169"
}

• views is the text YouTube shows, without the word "views". It is a string, not a number, and can be null if YouTube shows no count.
• channel can be null when YouTube returns no author.
• thumbnail is built from the video ID. For some videos (often older or low-resolution uploads) YouTube has no maxresdefault image and the link returns a 404. Use YouTube Thumbnail Downloader with several resolutions to get whichever exist.
• Only regular videos are returned. Shorts shelves, channels and playlists in the results are skipped.

Track YouTube search results over time with scheduled runs

Running the same input again and comparing is where most of the value is. Apify can run the actor for you on a schedule and send the results wherever you need them.

1. Save your input as a task

Open the actor, set your input, then click Save as a new task. A task is a saved input you can run again with one click or on a schedule.

2. Schedule the task

In Apify Console, go to Schedules, click Create new, choose how often to run (for example daily at 06:00 in your time zone), and add your task. See Schedules and How to create a schedule.

Watch how to schedule an Actor:

Or schedule a saved task:

Common schedules:

Use case	Frequency	Cron expression
New videos in a niche	Daily	0 6 * * *
Most viewed videos on a topic	Weekly (Monday)	0 6 * * 1
Trend watching around a launch	Twice a day	0 6,18 * * *

3. Send the results to a spreadsheet

Connect Google in the task's Integrations tab to save every run to Google Sheets or Google Drive automatically:

4. Compare runs

Rows have no timestamp, so use the run's start time from the dataset or the integration. Each row has a stable id:

• New videos: ids that were not in the previous run.
• View growth: views per id across runs. Remove the commas and convert to a number first.
• Ranking changes: the position of an id in your sortBy order from run to run.
• Thumbnail changes: a changed title or thumbnail for the same id.

FAQ

How many results can I get per keyword?

As many as YouTube returns for the search, up to your maxResultsPerKeyword. The actor follows YouTube's continuation pages until it reaches that number or the results end.

Why did I get fewer results than I asked for?

YouTube may end a search early or mix in non-video items such as playlists, which are skipped.

How fast is it?

Searches use YouTube's internal search API, with no browser. A keyword with 50 results usually finishes in seconds.

Do I need a proxy, login or API key?

No. The actor reads public search results.

Can I download the image files?

Not with this actor. Use YouTube Thumbnail Downloader with the video URLs from your results.

Is it legal to scrape YouTube search results?

The actor collects only public information. You are responsible for following YouTube's Terms of Service and the laws that apply to you, including copyright when you reuse thumbnails.

Cost

Pricing is set on the Pricing tab of the actor page, and that tab is always the current source. There is no subscription. The actor is currently pay per result at $0.50 per 1,000 results, and is scheduled to become free to use from 7 October 2026. Check the Pricing tab before large runs.

Related Actors

• YouTube Thumbnail Downloader: save thumbnail images at several resolutions from video URLs.
• YouTube Transcript Scraper: get transcripts for the videos you found.
• YouTube Comments Scraper: collect comments for those videos.

Support

Found a bug or need a field added? Open an issue in the Issues tab and include the run ID and your input.

This actor is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by YouTube or Google LLC. All trademarks belong to their owners.