YouTube Search Scraper – Extended

Build a larger collection of YouTube search results for a topic. Extended Search lets you request up to 700 items from one query, giving content researchers and analysts more candidates to review than the standard 20-result search.

What you get

• Larger result sets: request 1–700 search items from a single keyword query.
• Search filters: narrow the upload period, type, duration and supported features, with selectable sort order.
• Exportable metadata: titles and video IDs with available channel, duration, view and date fields, ready for JSON or CSV.

Use it to explore broad topics, assemble a video research dataset or compare a larger set of content before selecting individual videos.

Example output

The YouTube Extended Search results dataset contains one returned search item per row. This example is illustrative, not a live result:

{
  "query": "battery recycling explained",
  "videoId": "abcdefghijk",
  "title": "Example battery recycling explainer",
  "channel": "Example Science",
  "durationString": "5:00",
  "viewCount": 1234,
  "uploadDate": "2026-01-15",
  "request_id": "req_example"
}

Fields depend on the returned item and result type. Complete response and status preserves additional returned fields and usage information.

Quick start

1. Get a FlashData API key with youtube_search_extended access and available Credits.
2. Enter one query and your key, then set max_results above 20 when you need a larger collection. Optional filters narrow the search.
3. Click Start, then open YouTube Extended Search results to inspect and export the returned collection.

{
  "flashdataApiKey": "YOUR_FLASHDATA_API_KEY",
  "query": "battery recycling explained",
  "max_results": 50,
  "filters": {
    "type": "video",
    "sort_by": "relevance"
  }
}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
query	Yes	One search query, e.g. battery recycling explained.
flashdataApiKey	Yes	Your FlashData API key, stored as encrypted input.
max_results	No	Maximum results (1–700). Actual count may be lower. Range: 1–700. Default: 20.
filters	No	JSON filters, e.g. {"upload_date":"this_week","type":"video"}. See README for supported values.

Each run handles one query. The default is 20 results, so set max_results explicitly when you want more. The maximum of 700 is a requested ceiling, not a guaranteed delivery count.

Search filters

Pass these fields inside filters:

Filter	Supported values
upload_date	today, last_hour, this_week, this_month, this_year
type	video, channel, playlist, movie
duration	<4, 4-20, >20 (minutes)
sort_by	rating, relevance, view_count, upload_date
Boolean features	360, 3d, 4k, creative_commons, hd, hdr, live, location, purchased, subtitles, vr180

For example, "subtitles": true filters discovery results; it does not fetch the subtitle text.

Pricing

Requests use the extended-search FlashData rate, which is higher than the standard YouTube search rate, even when you request a small result set. Check your FlashData account rate. This Actor adds no service fee; Apify compute, storage and other platform usage are billed separately.

FAQ

When should I use Extended instead of standard Search?

Use Extended when you need more than the standard 20-result ceiling. For a short shortlist, the standard YouTube Search Scraper uses the lower search rate.

Will a request for 700 return 700 results?

Not necessarily. The query, filters and available YouTube results determine the actual count. It is not an exhaustive archive or an unlimited collection mode.

Can I submit multiple queries or continue through pages?

This Actor accepts one query per run and does not expose automatic pagination or a continuation token. Use separate runs for additional queries.

Does it fetch captions or enrich every video with full details?

It returns search metadata. Captions, full video metadata and downloads are separate operations.

What if a run fails?

Check key permissions and Credits for authentication errors. After a timeout or interruption, inspect Complete response and status and FlashData Jobs/usage before starting again: the request may already have been charged. A new run can create another charge.

Support

Open an issue on this Actor or email support@flashdata.dev with the run URL or request ID. Do not include API keys.

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This is an independent FlashData integration, not an official YouTube product.