Youku Scraper (优酷): Shows, Videos, Episodes & Uploaders

Search Youku (优酷), one of China's largest video platforms, and get clean rows for shows, dramas, films and variety programmes, for $2 per 1,000 search rows. Add video details (episode count, duration, likes, comments, VIP flag, post date, uploader id) for $8 per 1,000 videos, and uploader profiles (followers, likes, bio, location, verification) for $8 per 1,000. Paste a keyword, a v.youku.com link or an id. No login, no Youku account.

{
  "searchKeywords": ["庆余年"],
  "fetchSearchDetails": true
}

Input	Rows
Search keyword	One search-result row per show (usually 15-25 per keyword): title, subtitle, category, release year, completed or not, VIP/首播 badge, poster
Search keyword + fetchSearchDetails	Also one video row per show
Video link or video id	One video row: episode count, duration, likes, comments, VIP flag, post date, uploader id
Show id or show page	One video row for a representative video of that show, with the show's episode count
Uploader id or profile link	One profile row: followers, likes, bio, location, verification
includeUploaderProfiles	One profile row for each distinct uploader of the videos in the run

Why Use This Scraper?

• 2.5 times cheaper than the alternative. $0.002 per search row and $0.008 per video or uploader; the other maintained Youku actor charges $0.005 per search row and $0.02 per video or profile on a paid plan, and three times that on the free plan.
• Episode counts and VIP status. Know whether a drama is finished, how many episodes are out, and whether it needs a Youku VIP membership.
• Engagement numbers. Likes and comment counts for every video, followers and likes for every uploader.
• Links or ids, whatever you have. v.youku.com and m.youku.com links, show pages, video ids (XN…==) and show ids all work.

Use Cases

• Drama and film tracking: which titles in a franchise are on Youku, finished or still airing, VIP or free.
• Content licensing research: catalogue what Youku carries for a keyword, by category and release year.
• Creator research: find the uploaders behind recap and commentary channels, with follower counts and verification.
• Engagement monitoring: compare likes and comments across videos of a show.
• Market research on Chinese streaming: sample what Youku surfaces for a topic.

How It Works

1. Video links and ids are looked up four at a time; one lookup takes about 10 seconds.
2. Each search keyword returns one page of shows. With fetchSearchDetails, each show is then looked up for a video row.
3. Uploader profiles are looked up last: the ones you asked for, then the uploaders of the videos if includeUploaderProfiles is on.
4. Every row is charged as it is delivered, and the run stops cleanly at your spending limit or row cap.

Input Configuration

Field	Type	Description
searchKeywords	array	Keywords to search. Chinese titles work best.
maxResultsPerKeyword	integer	Cap on search rows per keyword, 5-150. Default 150; a keyword returns 15-25 in practice.
fetchSearchDetails	boolean	Add a video row for every search result. Default off.
videoUrls	array	Youku video links, show pages, video ids or show ids.
userIds	array	Uploader ids (U…=) or m.youku.com/profile?uid=… links.
includeUploaderProfiles	boolean	Add the profile of each video's uploader. Default off.
maxItems	integer	Cap on all rows. Default 1,000; free-plan runs return up to 100.

Example input

Two videos by link and the profiles of their uploaders:

{
  "videoUrls": [
    "https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjU2OTc2NDk5Mg==.html",
    "XNjM2ODU2MTM4MA=="
  ],
  "includeUploaderProfiles": true
}

One uploader by id:

{
  "userIds": ["UNjAxNTI2NjYwNA=="]
}

Output Samples

A search result (from a run on 2026-10-26):

{
  "type": "search-result",
  "showId": "cbbe76ee40ff459dab01",
  "url": "https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_cbbe76ee40ff459dab01.html",
  "title": "《庆余年第二季》深度解读",
  "subtitle": "范闲假死归京在权谋中觉醒",
  "category": "电视剧",
  "sourceName": "优酷",
  "releaseYear": 2026,
  "isCompleted": true,
  "cornerTag": null,
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://m.ykimg.com/050C00006A7D5C782012C914C3AB2678",
  "rank": 2,
  "searchKeyword": "庆余年"
}

A video:

{
  "type": "video",
  "videoId": "XNjU2OTc2NDk5Mg==",
  "showId": "cbab6fa83dbd4ccd9fea",
  "url": "https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjU2OTc2NDk5Mg==.html",
  "title": "老江湖",
  "showName": "老江湖",
  "subtitle": "一起失窃案引发的正邪博弈",
  "category": "电影",
  "videoType": "正片",
  "durationSec": 6000,
  "episodeTotal": 1,
  "episodeLast": 1,
  "isCompleted": true,
  "commentCount": 494,
  "likeCount": 12,
  "isVip": true,
  "allowComment": true,
  "postedAt": "2026-10-21T15:34:06.000Z",
  "showReleaseTime": "2026-10-21T16:00:00.000Z",
  "thumbnailUrl": "https://m.ykimg.com/053500006AD71FE070A43D13A35C3AC7",
  "authorId": "UNjAxNTI2NjYwNA==",
  "authorUrl": "https://m.youku.com/profile?uid=UNjAxNTI2NjYwNA=="
}

An uploader:

{
  "type": "profile",
  "userId": "UMjkyMDA1NTkxMg==",
  "numericId": "730013978",
  "name": "包晓琳",
  "url": "https://m.youku.com/profile?uid=UMjkyMDA1NTkxMg==",
  "bio": "作家，编剧，影视策划\n用光影认知世界，丈量人心",
  "followerCount": 3744,
  "likeCount": 939,
  "isVerified": false,
  "location": "河北",
  "uploaderOfVideoId": "XNjM2ODU2MTM4MA=="
}

Key Output Fields

Field	Meaning
type	video, search-result or profile
showId, videoId	Youku's show (programme) id and video id
episodeTotal, episodeLast	Episodes planned and episodes out so far
isCompleted	Whether the show has finished airing
isVip	Whether the video needs a Youku VIP membership
cornerTag	The badge on a search result, such as VIP, 首播 or 预告
likeCount, commentCount	Engagement on a video
followerCount, likeCount (profile)	The uploader's audience
authorId	Uploader id; put it in userIds for the profile

FAQ

How many results does a keyword return? One page, usually 15 to 25 shows. Youku search has no further pages through this actor, so maxResultsPerKeyword above 25 changes nothing. Use more specific keywords to reach more shows.

Do videos include view counts or cast lists? No. The source does not return play counts or cast for Youku videos. Likes, comments, episode counts and duration are included.

What does a show id return? One representative video of the show (usually the newest or first episode) with the show's episode count, not one row per episode.

Are transcripts available? Not at the moment. The transcript service failed on every test on 2026-10-26, so it is not offered.

What if an id is wrong? An unknown video or uploader is logged as not found and not charged.

English keywords? They work, but Youku is a Chinese site and English searches return few or no results. Use the Chinese title.

Do I need a Youku account? No.

Pricing

Event	When	Price
Actor start	Once per run (per GB of memory, 256 MB default)	$0.005
Search result	Each show from keyword search	$0.002
Video	Each video row	$0.008
Uploader profile	Each uploader profile	$0.008

Example: 10 keywords with fetchSearchDetails on, about 20 shows each, cost 200 × $0.002 + 200 × $0.008 + $0.005 = $2.01.

Support

Found a bug or need a field? Open an issue on the actor's Issues tab and include the run link.

⚠️ Disclaimer

This actor reads public Youku data. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Youku or Alibaba. You are responsible for using the data in line with Youku's terms and the laws that apply to you. Titles, posters and descriptions belong to their owners.

SEO Keywords

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