# YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker (`saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker`) Actor Compare YouTube's official Trending chart across multiple countries - view velocity, top videos, and momentum, ranked side by side. - **URL**: https://apify.com/saint\_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker.md - **Developed by:** [saint person](https://apify.com/saint_person) (community) - **Categories:** Business - **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing Pay per event This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## ๐Ÿ”ฅ YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker > ๐Ÿš€ **Compare YouTube's official Trending chart across countries in one run.** View velocity, top videos, and momentum - not a single-region snapshot. > ๐Ÿ•’ **Last updated:** 2026-07-11 ยท ๐Ÿ“Š **9 fields** per region ยท Built on the official YouTube Data API v3 > ๐ŸŽ **Try it free:** the free Apify plan returns up to **10 results per run** - enough to see the output quality. Any paid Apify plan unlocks full-size runs. Give it a list of countries and it pulls YouTube's own official Trending chart for each, then computes average views-per-hour-since-publish - so you can tell India's chart is running HOT (321k views/hour) while Brazil's is STEADY (8.4k/hour), instead of scrolling five separate Trending pages. | ๐ŸŽฏ Target Audience | ๐Ÿ’ก Primary Use Cases | | --- | --- | | Content creators, marketers, media buyers, trend researchers | Cross-market content strategy, ad-spend timing, viral-trend research, competitive content analysis | --- ### ๐Ÿ“‹ What this Actor does - Fetches YouTube's official Trending chart (chart=mostPopular) per country you list - Computes each video's views-per-hour since publish, averaged per region - Labels each region's chart VIRAL / HOT / WARM / STEADY - Surfaces the top video and a sample list per region > ๐Ÿ’ก **Why it matters:** total views reward old uploads. Velocity tells you what's actually blowing up right now, in which market. --- ### ๐ŸŽฌ Full demo ๐Ÿšง Video walkthrough coming soon - the Quick Start below takes under 3 minutes end to end. --- ### โš™๏ธ Input | Input | Type | Default | Behavior | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `regions` | string | (prefilled) | Comma-separated ISO country codes, up to 10 | | `maxResults` | integer | 10 | Trending videos sampled per region (5-50) | | `apiKey` | string | (required) | Your free YouTube Data API v3 key | **Example: Compare 5 major markets** ```json { "regions": "US, GB, IN, JP, BR", "maxResults": 10, "apiKey": "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY" } ```` **Example: Two-market check** ```json { "regions": "KR, MX", "maxResults": 15, "apiKey": "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY" } ``` > โš ๏ธ **Good to know:** you need a free YouTube Data API v3 key (Google Cloud Console > APIs & Services > Credentials, takes ~2 minutes, no cost). The free daily quota covers hundreds of runs. *** ### ๐Ÿ“Š Output Each region returns **9 fields**. Download as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML, or consume via the Apify API. #### ๐Ÿงพ Schema | Field | Type | Example | | --- | --- | --- | | region | string | IN | | videosSampled | integer | 10 | | avgViewVelocity | number | 321943.2 | | momentumLevel | string | HOT | | topVideoTitle / topVideoChannel | string | Tabaahi (Toxic) / Zee Music Company | | topVideoViews | integer | 23945113 | | sampleTitles | array | \["Tabaahi...", "TOXIC โ€“ Final Trailer"] | | generatedAt | string | 2026-07-10T23:57:13Z | #### ๐Ÿ“ฆ Sample record ```json {"region":"IN","videosSampled":10,"avgViewVelocity":321943.2,"momentumLevel":"HOT","topVideoTitle":"Tabaahi | Toxic (Hindi)","topVideoChannel":"Zee Music Company","topVideoViews":23945113,"sampleTitles":["Tabaahi | Toxic (Hindi)"],"generatedAt":"2026-07-10T23:57:13Z"} ``` *** ### โœจ Why choose this Actor | | Capability | | --- | --- | | ๐Ÿ† | **Velocity, not just views.** Ranks by views-per-hour, not lifetime totals. | | ๐ŸŒ | **Multi-country in one run.** Compare up to 10 markets side by side. | | โšก | **Built on YouTube's official API.** No scraping - the actual Trending chart. | | ๐Ÿ” | **Automatic retries.** Transient failures retry with backoff. | | ๐Ÿ’ณ | **Pay per result.** No subscription. A typical 5-region run costs about $0.035. | > ๐Ÿ“Š Turns 5 manual Trending-page checks into 1 ranked table. *** ### ๐Ÿ“ˆ How it compares to alternatives | Approach | Cost | Coverage | Refresh | Setup | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **โญ YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker** *(this Actor)* | $5 free credit, then pay-per-use | Any country, up to 10 per run | **Live per run** | โšก 2 min | | Browsing youtube.com/feed/trending manually | Free | One country at a time | Live | ๐Ÿข Manual, one by one | | Social listening SaaS | $100s+/mo subscription | Broad | Live | ๐Ÿข Sales call + onboarding | | Manual copy-paste | Free | Current session only | One-shot | ๐Ÿข Hours of clicking | Pick this Actor when you want a ranked, multi-country momentum view without a subscription. *** ### ๐Ÿš€ How to use 1. ๐Ÿ“ **Sign up.** Create a free Apify account with $5 credit (takes 2 minutes). 2. ๐Ÿ”‘ **Get a YouTube API key.** Free from Google Cloud Console (2 minutes, no cost). 3. ๐ŸŒ **Open the Actor.** Go to the YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker page on the Apify Store. 4. โœ๏ธ **Set your input.** List your countries and paste your API key. 5. ๐Ÿš€ **Run it.** Watch results stream into the Dataset tab. > โฑ๏ธ Total time from signup to downloaded dataset: **5 minutes.** No coding required. *** ### ๐Ÿ’ผ Business use cases - **Content creators:** spot which country's Trending chart is heating up for a topic you cover. - **Media buyers:** time ad spend to markets with genuinely accelerating attention. - **Marketers:** back a "what's viral right now" pitch with real velocity numbers. - **Researchers:** build reproducible cross-market attention datasets. *** ### ๐ŸŒŸ Beyond business use cases - ๐ŸŽ“ **Research & academia** - media attention and virality studies across markets. - ๐ŸŽจ **Personal & creative** - content-calendar research for a YouTube channel. - ๐Ÿค **Non-profit & civic** - track public attention on a cause across countries. - ๐Ÿงช **Experimentation** - prototype a trend-dashboard on real cross-market data. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Automating YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker **Node.js** (`apify-client` on NPM): ```javascript const { ApifyClient } = require('apify-client'); const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' }); const run = await client.actor('saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker').call({ regions: "US, GB, IN", maxResults: 10, apiKey: "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY" }); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); ``` **Python** (`apify-client` on PyPI): ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient client = ApifyClient('YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN') run = client.actor('saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker').call(run_input={"regions": "US, GB, IN", "maxResults": 10, "apiKey": "YOUR_YOUTUBE_API_KEY"}) items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items ``` ๐Ÿ“š [Full Apify API documentation](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) [Apify Schedules](https://docs.apify.com/platform/schedules) triggers this Actor on any cron interval - daily for a standing cross-market trend watch. *** ### ๐Ÿง  Use via MCP (for AI agents) YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker is directly callable by any MCP-compatible AI agent (Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and others) through Apify's hosted MCP server - no custom integration code needed. ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/sse?actors=saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" } } } } ``` Once connected, just ask your agent something like: *"Use the YouTube Trending Tracker Actor to tell me which of these 5 countries has the hottest Trending chart right now."* ๐Ÿ“š [Apify MCP server docs](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿค– Ask an AI assistant about this Actor - ๐Ÿ’ฌ [**ChatGPT**](https://chat.openai.com/?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20YouTube%20Trending%20Video%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿง  [**Claude**](https://claude.ai/new?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20YouTube%20Trending%20Video%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) - ๐Ÿ” [**Perplexity**](https://perplexity.ai/search?q=How%20do%20I%20use%20the%20YouTube%20Trending%20Video%20Momentum%20Tracker%20on%20Apify%3F) *** ### โ“ Frequently Asked Questions #### ๐Ÿงฉ How does it work? It calls YouTube's official Data API v3 Trending chart per country, then computes views-per-hour-since-publish, averaged across the sample. #### Do I really need my own API key? Yes - YouTube's API has no anonymous access tier. It's free from Google Cloud Console and takes about 2 minutes to set up. #### What counts as "VIRAL"? An average view velocity of 1,000,000+ views/hour across the sampled Trending videos. #### โฐ Can I schedule regular runs? Yes. Use Apify Schedules to run this Actor on any cron interval. #### โš–๏ธ Is this data legal to collect? This Actor only collects data that is publicly accessible via YouTube's official API. No login, no bypass of access controls. #### ๐Ÿ’ณ Do I need a paid Apify plan? No. The free Apify plan is enough for testing and small runs. #### ๐Ÿ” What happens if a run fails? Transient errors retry automatically with backoff. If a run still fails, the log explains exactly why. #### ๐Ÿ†˜ What if I need help? Open an issue on this Actor's Issues tab. *** ### ๐Ÿ”Œ Integrate with any app - [**Zapier**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/zapier) - [**Make**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/make) - [**n8n**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations) - [**Google Sheets**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/drive) - [**Slack**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/slack) - [**Gmail**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/gmail) - [**Webhooks**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/webhooks) - [**MCP**](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp) *** ### ๐Ÿ”— Recommended Actors Pairs well with [HN Topic Momentum Tracker](https://apify.com/saint_person/hn-topic-momentum-tracker) and [GitHub Topic Momentum Tracker](https://apify.com/saint_person/github-repo-momentum-tracker) for cross-platform trend comparison. > ๐Ÿ’ก **Pro tip:** browse the complete [saint\_person collection](https://apify.com/saint_person) for more tools like this. *** ### ๐Ÿ†˜ Help & custom requests - ๐Ÿ› **Something not working?** Open an issue on this Actor's **Issues tab**. - ๐Ÿ› ๏ธ **Need a custom feature or a different data source?** Open an issue describing what you need. *** > **โš ๏ธ Disclaimer:** this Actor is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by YouTube or Google LLC. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Only publicly available data is collected. # Actor input Schema ## `regions` (type: `string`): Comma-separated ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes to compare (up to 10), e.g. 'US, GB, IN, JP, BR'. Works out of the box with the prefilled example. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): How many top trending videos to sample per region. Controls your cost: you pay per region profile returned. ## `apiKey` (type: `string`): Your free YouTube Data API v3 key from Google Cloud Console (APIs & Services > Credentials). Required - YouTube's API does not work without one, but the free quota (10,000 units/day) covers hundreds of runs. ## Actor input object example ```json { "regions": "US, GB, IN, JP, BR", "maxResults": 10 } ``` # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "regions": "US, GB, IN, JP, BR" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`๐Ÿ’พ 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); }); // ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ 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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "regions": "US, GB, IN, JP, BR" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("๐Ÿ’พ Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # ๐Ÿ“š Want to learn more ๐Ÿ“–? Go to โ†’ https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "regions": "US, GB, IN, JP, BR" }' | apify call saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=saint_person/youtube-trending-video-tracker", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "YouTube Trending Video Momentum Tracker", "description": "Compare YouTube's official Trending chart across multiple countries - view velocity, top videos, and momentum, ranked side by side.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "lqt8ZOAZAcymSctAu" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/saint_person~youtube-trending-video-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-saint_person-youtube-trending-video-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~youtube-trending-video-tracker/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-saint_person-youtube-trending-video-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/saint_person~youtube-trending-video-tracker/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-saint_person-youtube-trending-video-tracker", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "regions", "apiKey" ], "properties": { "regions": { "title": "Country/region codes", "type": "string", "description": "Comma-separated ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes to compare (up to 10), e.g. 'US, GB, IN, JP, BR'. Works out of the box with the prefilled example." }, "maxResults": { "title": "Videos sampled per region", "minimum": 5, "maximum": 50, "type": "integer", "description": "How many top trending videos to sample per region. Controls your cost: you pay per region profile returned.", "default": 10 }, "apiKey": { "title": "YouTube Data API key", "type": "string", "description": "Your free YouTube Data API v3 key from Google Cloud Console (APIs & Services > Credentials). Required - YouTube's API does not work without one, but the free quota (10,000 units/day) covers hundreds of runs." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```