# YouTube Search Scraper — Video Rankings & Rank Changes (`northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker`) Actor

Track where videos rank on YouTube for your keywords: rank, rank change since the last run, new entries, views, channel, upload age and length. Add your own or competitors' channels or videos to get their best rank per keyword in a summary row. No login.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Northbell](https://apify.com/northbell) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Videos, Social media
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.80 / 1,000 ranked videos

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## YouTube Search Scraper — Video Rankings & Rank Changes

See where videos rank on **YouTube search** for your keywords — and how that changes over time. Each row is one video in YouTube's order with its **rank, rank change since the last run, whether it is new in the results, views, channel, upload age and length**. **$1 per 1,000 ranked videos**, no login, no API key.

Add your own channel, a client's or a competitor's (or specific videos) to **Watch**, and every search also gets a **summary row with their best rank and how it moved** — a daily YouTube SEO report from one scheduled run.

### What you get

| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| `search`, `country`, `rank` | the keyword, the country and the position among videos (ads, Shorts shelves and playlists are not counted) |
| `previousRank`, `rankChange`, `isNewInSearch` | compared with your previous run of the same keyword and country (`null` on the first run; positive `rankChange` = moved up) |
| `videoId`, `url`, `title`, `duration`, `durationSeconds`, `isLive`, `badges` | the video |
| `views`, `viewsText`, `publishedAgo`, `publishedDaysAgo` | as YouTube shows them in search (`publishedDaysAgo` is approximate: "2 months ago" = 60) |
| `channelName`, `channelId`, `channelHandle`, `channelVerified` | who posted it |
| `isWatched` | `true` for videos of your watched channels or videos |

With **Watch**, one extra row per search (`type: "watch-summary"`): `watchedFound`, `bestRank`, `bestRankBefore`, `bestRankChange` and the list of watched videos with their ranks. Summary rows are free.

### Use it for

- **YouTube SEO** — track your videos' rank for the keywords that bring viewers
- **Competitor watch** — who took the top spots this week, which new videos entered the results
- **Content research** — what ranks for a topic, how old it is, how long it is and how many views it has

### Input

```json
{ "searches": ["best budget phone 2026", "phone camera test"], "country": "GB", "maxResultsPerSearch": 30, "watch": ["@TechSpurt"] }
```

Rankings are remembered per keyword and country in a named key-value store in your Apify account, so the second run already shows rank changes. Schedule it (Apify → Schedules) for a daily history. Turn on **Only output watched videos** to pay only for your watched rows.

### Pricing

**$1 per 1,000 ranked videos**, plus $0.01 per run. Summary and error rows are free. The $0.01 run-start fee is the one charge every run pays, even one that returns nothing.

### Notes

- **Country.** YouTube ranks mostly by where the request comes from, and Apify's servers are in the US, so results are what a signed-out viewer in the US sees, in English. The `country` code is passed to YouTube as a hint: measured on 8 October 2026, `news` returned the same top 5 for US, JP and DE from Apify, and from a home line in Japan the hint changed only one or two of the top 3. Treat other countries as approximate. YouTube personalises results for signed-in users, so your own screen can differ.
- About 20 videos per results page; up to 100 per keyword.

For **channel statistics and growth** (exact total views, subscribers, uploads, views per day), see [YouTube Channel Stats & Growth Tracker](https://apify.com/northbell/youtube-channel-growth-tracker).

### For AI agents

`{"searches": ["python tutorial"], "maxResultsPerSearch": 10}` returns the top 10 videos with rank, views and channel. Rows have `type`: `search-result`, `watch-summary` or `error`.

# Actor input Schema

## `searches` (type: `array`):

What you would type in the YouTube search box. Each search returns the videos in YouTube's order with their rank.

## `country` (type: `string`):

Two-letter country code, e.g. US, GB, IN, JP, passed to YouTube as a hint. YouTube ranks mostly by where the request comes from (Apify's servers are in the US), so other countries are approximate.

## `maxResultsPerSearch` (type: `integer`):

How many videos to read for each search, in YouTube's order (about 20 per page). Ads, Shorts shelves and playlists are not counted.

## `watch` (type: `array`):

Your own or your competitors' channels (@handle, channel URL or UC… ID) or videos (URL or 11-character ID). Each search then gets a summary row with their best rank and how it moved since the last run.

## `onlyWatched` (type: `boolean`):

Return only the rows of watched channels and videos, plus the summary row. You pay only for those rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searches": [
    "best budget phone 2026"
  ],
  "country": "US",
  "maxResultsPerSearch": 20,
  "onlyWatched": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Videos in YouTube's order for each search, with rank change, views, channel and age.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "searches": [
        "best budget phone 2026"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "searches": ["best budget phone 2026"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "searches": [
    "best budget phone 2026"
  ]
}' |
apify call northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,northbell/youtube-search-rank-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Lbv8c98qBdHyqdBKa/builds/onpLRXErRPXwHcUgU/openapi.json