🔍 YouTube Search Scraper

🔍 YouTube Search Scraper

The 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper is a fast, production-ready YouTube SERP scraper that lets you search by keyword or paste video & channel URLs to scrape YouTube search results at scale. It solves the grind of manual browsing by returning clean, structured records (titles, views, likes, comments, channel info, thumbnails, hashtags, keywords) you can export instantly. Built for marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers, this YouTube search scraping tool works as a YouTube search API alternative for data-driven discovery and campaign intelligence — so you can automate insights, enrich pipelines, and export results in minutes.

What data / output can you get?

Below are the main JSON fields the actor writes to the dataset when it collects videos and channels from YouTube. These are flat, analysis-ready fields with consistent types for easy export to JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Data field	Description	Example value
type	Record type ("video", "channel", "info", "error")	"video"
title	Video title	"Our Respect For Jim Carrey After Hearing This 📈! #Shorts"
url	Video URL or input channel URL	"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ksIepT2mE"
id	Video ID	"f5ksIepT2mE"
date	ISO upload date (UTC) when available	"2022-12-15T00:00:00Z"
duration	Normalized duration string (e.g., M:SS or H:MM:SS)	"0:52"
viewCount	Video view count (integer)	36334432
likes	Video like count (integer)	2206496
commentsCount	Number of comments (integer)	10000
commentsTurnedOff	Whether comments are disabled	false
channelName	Channel display name	"The Graham Norton Show"
channelUsername	Channel handle (when detected)	"@OfficialGrahamNorton"
channelUrl	Canonical or best-effort channel URL	"http://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton"
channelId	Channel ID	"UC4PziMH5MvvsmqM0VCZTy-g"
numberOfSubscribers	Channel subscriber count (integer, if available)	5470000
channelViewCount	Channel view count (integer, if available)	4788755834
channelVideoCount	Channel video count (integer, if available)	2451
hiddenSubscriberCount	Whether the channel hides subscriber count	false
thumbnailUrl	Video thumbnail URL	"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f5ksIepT2mE/hq720_2.jpg"
hashtags	Extracted hashtags from description (up to 5)	["#TheGrinch","#GrahamNortonShow"]
keywords	Extracted tags/keywords (up to 5)	["The Graham Norton Show","Graham Norton"]
text	Description snippet (truncated)	"Remember this next time you watch #TheGrinch!…"
input	The original search query or URL that produced the record	"https://www.youtube.com/@SecretRevealedbd"
order	Result order for the input query	0

Bonus channel records (when you input channel URLs) include these additional fields:

• description, joined, country, subscribers, views, videos, canonicalChannelUrl, links, inputUrl, aboutUrl

Exports are available directly from the Apify dataset in JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Key features

• ⚡ Live save to dataset
  Results are written as they’re scraped, so you can monitor progress and export partial data anytime.

• 🧠 Smart residential proxy & retries
  Built-in proxy management starts with RESIDENTIAL IPs and rotates on retries to reduce blocks and “sign in to confirm” interruptions.

• 🗂️ Flat, analysis-ready schema
  Clean, consistent fields for videos and channels: title, url, id, date, duration, viewCount, likes, commentsCount, channelName, channelUsername, channelUrl, channelViewCount, channelVideoCount, numberOfSubscribers, hashtags, keywords, thumbnailUrl, text, input, order, and more.

• 🔎 Keyword and URL input in one run
  Mix queries like “python programming” with direct YouTube video or channel URLs in the same job.

• ↕️ Sort controls for relevance or recency
  Choose how results are ordered via sortBy (relevance, date, viewCount, rating) to match your use case.

• 📈 Scalable YouTube search results export
  Configure maxResults per query (1–2000) and collect structured output, perfect for dashboards or enrichment.

• 👩‍💻 Developer-friendly via Apify API
  Run programmatically and fetch dataset items over API for pipeline automation and integration.

• 🛡️ Production-grade reliability
  Parallelized collection, robust retries, and proxy rotation deliver consistent performance for large jobs.

How to use 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper - step by step

1. Create or log in to your Apify account.
2. Open the 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper in the Apify Store.
3. Add input in the “Search queries” list: enter one or more keywords and/or paste YouTube video/channel URLs (one per line).
4. Configure settings as needed:
   • maxResults (1–2000) to control how many results per query you want
   • sortBy to order results by relevance, date, viewCount, or rating
   • type to target videos or channels (playlists/movies options are available in the input)
   • proxyConfiguration if you prefer a custom proxy (optional)
   • debug for verbose logs (optional)
5. Click Start to run. The actor will search and collect results in parallel.
6. Watch progress in real time — results are saved live to the dataset.
7. Export your results as JSON, CSV, or Excel from the dataset tab, or fetch them programmatically via the Apify API.

Pro tip: Chain this YouTube search results extractor with your internal pipeline to enrich records, trigger alerts on new uploads, or feed reporting tools for trend analysis.

Use cases

Use case	Description
Market research trend tracking	Identify rising topics and competitive content by scraping YouTube search results at scale, sorted by date or view count.
Campaign discovery for marketers	Mine top-performing videos and channels around target keywords to guide creative and media planning.
SEO & content strategy	Use the YouTube keyword scraper workflow to evaluate SERP positions, formats (Shorts/long-form), and engagement patterns.
Data enrichment for analytics	Feed structured search results into BI dashboards or databases for ongoing performance monitoring.
Academic & social research	Collect reproducible datasets from YouTube SERPs to study content diffusion, genres, or audience patterns.
API-driven automations	Trigger runs via API and export datasets to downstream systems for alerts, scoring, or content curation workflows.

Why choose 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper?

Built for precision, automation, and reliability, this YouTube search crawler outperforms fragile, manual approaches and unstable browser extensions.

• ✅ Accurate, flat schema with all key engagement and channel fields
• 🚀 Scales to large batches with parallel processing and maxResults controls
• 🔄 Smart proxy rotation with RESIDENTIAL IPs for higher success rates
• 💾 Fast exports to JSON/CSV/Excel and easy access via the Apify API
• 👩‍💻 Developer-ready for pipelines and scheduled runs
• 🔒 Safe approach focused on publicly available data and robust error handling
• 💡 Ideal YouTube search API alternative for teams that need structured SERP data without manual browsing

In short: a reliable YouTube search results scraper that delivers structured output and dependable performance at scale.

Is it legal / ethical to use 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper?

Yes — when used responsibly. This actor focuses on publicly available information and does not access private or gated content.

Guidelines for compliant use:

• Collect only publicly accessible data and respect platform terms.
• Avoid scraping private, unlisted, or restricted content.
• Use results for legitimate business, research, or analytics purposes.
• Ensure your use complies with applicable laws and your organization’s policies.
• When in doubt, consult your legal team for edge cases.

Input parameters & output format

Example JSON input

{
  "queries": [
    "python programming",
    "https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton"
  ],
  "maxResults": 10,
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "uploadDate": "",
  "duration": "",
  "type": "video",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  },
  "debug": false
}

Parameter reference

• queries (array of string) — One search query or URL per line. Examples: « python programming », « best cooking channels », or a full URL like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=... or https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelName. Mix keywords and URLs in the same run. Default: ["python programming"]. Required: No.
• maxResults (integer) — Maximum number of results to fetch for each query (1–2000). Default: 10. Required: No.
• sortBy (string: relevance | date | viewCount | rating) — How results are ordered. Default: "relevance". Required: No.
• uploadDate (string: "", lastHour, today, thisWeek, thisMonth, thisYear) — Upload date filter (leave empty for none). Default: "". Required: No.
• duration (string: "", short, medium, long) — Duration filter (leave empty for none). Default: "". Required: No.
• type (string: video | channel | playlist | movie) — Type of results to return. Default: "video". Required: No.
• proxyConfiguration (object) — No proxy by default. If YouTube blocks the run, the actor automatically switches to RESIDENTIAL proxy. You can also set a custom proxy here. Required: No.
• debug (boolean) — Verbose logging for troubleshooting. Default: false. Required: No.

Example JSON output

[
  {
    "title": "Our Respect For Jim Carrey After Hearing This 📈! #Shorts",
    "type": "video",
    "channelName": "The Graham Norton Show",
    "date": "2022-12-15T00:00:00Z",
    "text": "Remember this next time you watch #TheGrinch!…",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f5ksIepT2mE/hq720_2.jpg",
    "order": 0,
    "input": "python programming",
    "hashtags": ["#TheGrinch", "#GrahamNortonShow", "#GrahamNorton", "#TheGNShow", "#JimCarrey"],
    "channelId": "UC4PziMH5MvvsmqM0VCZTy-g",
    "channelUrl": "http://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "channelUsername": "@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "numberOfSubscribers": 5470000,
    "channelViewCount": 4788755834,
    "channelVideoCount": 2451,
    "hiddenSubscriberCount": false,
    "id": "f5ksIepT2mE",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ksIepT2mE",
    "viewCount": 36334432,
    "likes": 2206496,
    "commentsCount": 10000,
    "commentsTurnedOff": false,
    "duration": "0:52",
    "keywords": ["Graham Norton", "The Graham Norton Show", "Graham Norton Show"],
    "isMembersOnly": false
  },
  {
    "type": "channel",
    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "description": "Official channel for The Graham Norton Show…",
    "joined": "Oct 6, 2007",
    "country": "Not specified",
    "subscribers": "5.47M subscribers",
    "views": "4,788,755,834 views",
    "videos": "2,451 videos",
    "canonicalChannelUrl": "http://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "channelUsername": "@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "channelId": "UC4PziMH5MvvsmqM0VCZTy-g",
    "links": [],
    "inputUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton",
    "aboutUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@OfficialGrahamNorton/about"
  }
]

Notes:

• When you provide channel URLs, channel “about” records are returned with fields like description, joined, country, subscribers, views, and videos.
• The actor may also emit informational or error items such as:
  • {"type":"info","input":"your query","message":"No results"}
  • {"type":"error","url":"…","error":"…"}

Related tools

Tool	Tool
☎️ YouTube Channel Phone Number Scraper	💬 YouTube Comments Scraper
📝 YouTube Transcript Scraper	🎥 YouTube Video Details Scraper
📺 YouTube Channel Finder	🧠 YouTube Video Summarizer
👥 YouTube Community Posts Scraper	⏱️ YouTube Most Replayed Scraper
📊 YouTube Metadata Scraper	🌐 YouTube Video Subtitles Scraper
🔥 YouTube Trending Scraper	🏷️ YouTube Video Scraper by Hashtag
🎬 YouTube Shorts Scraper	📂 YouTube Playlist Scraper
📡 YouTube Channel Scraper	📞 YouTube Phone Number Scraper
📧 YouTube Email Scraper	📨 YouTube Channel Email Scraper

FAQ

Does the 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper work with both keywords and URLs?

Yes. You can enter one or more keywords and also paste video or channel URLs in the “queries” list. Mixing keywords and URLs is supported in the same run.

How many results can I collect per query?

You control this with maxResults. It accepts 1–2000 per query. Larger values return more results but may take longer to complete.

Can I change how results are ordered?

Yes. Use sortBy with one of: relevance, date, viewCount, or rating. This helps tailor your YouTube search results export to your analysis needs.

What fields are included in the output?

For videos, you’ll get type, title, url, id, date, duration, viewCount, likes, commentsCount, commentsTurnedOff, channelName, channelUsername, channelUrl, channelId, numberOfSubscribers, channelViewCount, channelVideoCount, hiddenSubscriberCount, thumbnailUrl, hashtags, keywords, text, input, and order. For channel URLs, “about” records are returned with fields like description, joined, country, subscribers, views, and videos.

Does it use proxies? What happens if YouTube blocks a request?

A proxy is optional. If needed, the actor automatically uses RESIDENTIAL proxy and rotates to improve success rates. You can also provide your own proxyConfiguration.

How do I export the data?

All results are saved live to the run’s dataset. Export in JSON, CSV, or Excel via the Apify UI, or fetch programmatically with the Apify API.

Is this a YouTube search API alternative?

Yes. It’s a practical YouTube search results scraper that functions as a YouTube search API alternative for teams that need structured SERP data at scale without building their own crawler.

Can I run it programmatically?

Yes. Trigger runs and retrieve dataset items via the Apify API, making it easy to integrate into pipelines or schedule recurring jobs.

Final thoughts

The 🔍 YouTube Search Scraper is built to scrape YouTube search results reliably and at scale. With live dataset saves, a flat schema, smart proxies, and configurable sorting and limits, it’s ideal for marketers, developers, analysts, and researchers. Run it from the Apify UI or orchestrate it with the API to power your YouTube SERP scraper workflows, enrich data pipelines, and export structured results fast. Start extracting smarter YouTube insights today.