Youtube Search Scraper

Scrape YouTube search results for videos (long-form or shorts) with detailed video and channel information.

Features

• Search by Query - Search YouTube for any keyword or phrase
• Video Type Filter - Choose between long-form videos or YouTube Shorts
• Detailed Video Data - Get comprehensive video information including views, likes, comments, duration, and more
• Channel Information - Includes uploader's channel details like subscriber count, total videos, avatar, etc.
• Pagination Support - Automatically fetches multiple pages until target count is reached
• YouTube Data API Integration - Uses official API for accurate and detailed metadata

Input Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
queries	array	Yes	["how to make money"]	List of search queries to scrape
maxResults	integer	No	50	Maximum videos per query (1-500)
videoType	string	No	"long"	Video type: "long" for long-form videos, "short" for YouTube Shorts

Example Input

Search for Long-form Videos

{
    "queries": ["python tutorial", "web development"],
    "maxResults": 100,
    "videoType": "long"
}

Search for YouTube Shorts

{
    "queries": ["funny cats", "cooking hacks"],
    "maxResults": 50,
    "videoType": "short"
}

Multiple Queries

{
    "queries": [
        "machine learning tutorial",
        "data science for beginners",
        "python projects"
    ],
    "maxResults": 30,
    "videoType": "long"
}

Output Data

Each video in the output dataset contains:

Video Information

Field	Type	Description
title	string	Video title
id	string	YouTube video ID
url	string	Full video URL
type	string	"video" or "short"
thumbnailUrl	string	High-quality thumbnail URL
viewCount	integer	Number of views
likes	integer	Number of likes
commentsCount	integer	Number of comments
duration	string	Video duration (HH:MM:SS)
durationSeconds	integer	Duration in seconds
date	string	Publish date (ISO 8601)
description	string	Video description
hashtags	array	Hashtags from description
tags	array	Video tags
categoryId	string	YouTube category ID

Channel Information

Field	Type	Description
channelName	string	Channel name
channelId	string	YouTube channel ID
channelUrl	string	Channel URL
channelUsername	string	Channel handle (@username)
channelDescription	string	Channel description
channelAvatarUrl	string	Channel avatar image URL
channelBannerUrl	string	Channel banner image URL
numberOfSubscribers	integer	Subscriber count
channelTotalVideos	integer	Total videos on channel
channelTotalViews	integer	Total channel views
channelJoinedDate	string	Channel creation date
channelLocation	string	Channel country
isChannelVerified	boolean	Verification status

Metadata

Field	Type	Description
order	integer	Result order (0-indexed)
searchQuery	string	The search query used
searchVideoType	string	Video type filter used
privacyStatus	string	Video privacy status
definition	string	Video quality (hd/sd)
caption	string	Caption availability
license	string	Video license type
embeddable	boolean	Can be embedded
madeForKids	boolean	Made for kids flag

Example Output

{
    "title": "How to Make Money Online in 2024 - Complete Guide",
    "id": "abc123xyz",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123xyz",
    "type": "video",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abc123xyz/maxresdefault.jpg",
    "viewCount": 1500000,
    "likes": 45000,
    "commentsCount": 3200,
    "duration": "00:15:30",
    "durationSeconds": 930,
    "date": "2024-01-15T10:00:00Z",
    "description": "In this video, I'll show you...",
    "hashtags": ["#makemoney", "#sidehustle"],
    "tags": ["make money online", "passive income", "side hustle"],
    "channelName": "Finance Channel",
    "channelId": "UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "channelUsername": "@financechannel",
    "numberOfSubscribers": 2500000,
    "channelTotalVideos": 450,
    "channelAvatarUrl": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...",
    "order": 0,
    "searchQuery": "how to make money",
    "searchVideoType": "long"
}

Use Cases

• Market Research - Analyze trending topics and competitor content
• Content Ideas - Find popular videos in your niche for inspiration
• Influencer Discovery - Find channels creating content on specific topics
• Trend Analysis - Track video performance metrics across topics
• Data Analysis - Build datasets for machine learning or analytics

Limitations

• Maximum 500 videos per query
• Rate limited to avoid API restrictions
• Requires valid authentication cookies

Integrations

This actor can be integrated with:

• Google Sheets - Export results directly to spreadsheets
• Webhooks - Trigger actions when scraping completes
• API - Call programmatically from your applications
• Scheduling - Run automatically on a schedule

Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions, please open an issue on the actor's GitHub repository.