YouTube Search Scraper — Keyword Results for Discovery Pipelines

Run YouTube search queries (optional country and language) and get video hits — IDs, titles, channels, views, durations, and thumbnails — as Apify Dataset rows. Built for keyword discovery pipelines that need structured results fast.

Run YouTube Search Scraper on Apify · Built by ScrapeMamba · Not a media downloader

---

Why this Actor?

Keyword discovery is where most YouTube research starts. This Actor turns a list of queries into structured video hits you can filter, schedule, and hand off to enrichment Actors.

• Multiple queries in one run
• Optional country / lang for locale-aware ranking
• Cap volume per query with maxResults
• Stable videoId for Video / Subtitles / Related follow-ups
• Predictable cost with clear result caps

---

Key features

• YouTube search results as structured Dataset rows
• Locale controls via ISO country code and UI language
• Per-query caps and error isolation
• Apify Console, schedules, and API / Client support

---

What you can scrape

Group	Fields
Query context	query, page
Identity	videoId, url, channelId
Result card	title, author, thumbnail, publishedTime
Metrics	views, length
Diagnostics	type (video / error), raw, error

---

Use cases

• Content research — Probe topics and title patterns before publishing
• Competitor keyword tracking — Schedule queries and diff videoId sets over time
• Influencer discovery — Find channels ranking for niche terms
• Lead generation — Seed CRM lists from keyword → channel/video IDs
• Dataset building — Keyword → video catalogs for ML or analytics

---

Example output

{
  "type": "video",
  "query": "machine learning",
  "page": 1,
  "videoId": "aircAruvnKk",
  "title": "But what is a neural network? | Deep learning",
  "author": "3Blue1Brown",
  "channelId": "UCYO_jab_esuFRV4b17AJtAw",
  "views": 45000000,
  "length": 1144,
  "publishedTime": "7 years ago",
  "thumbnail": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/aircAruvnKk/hqdefault.jpg",
  "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aircAruvnKk"
}

---

How to use

1. Open YouTube Search Scraper
2. Add queries, optionally set country / lang / maxResults
3. Run → export Dataset or pull via API

Input example

{
  "queries": ["nodejs", "machine learning"],
  "country": "US",
  "lang": "en",
  "maxResults": "50"
}

API (Node.js)

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('scrapemamba/youtube-search-scraper').call({
  queries: ['youtube scraper'],
  country: 'US',
  maxResults: '20',
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Local run

cd youtube-search-scraper-js
cp .env.example .env
npm install
node src/main.js

---

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Default	Description
queries	Yes	—	Search keywords / phrases
country	No	"US"	ISO country code (YouTube gl)
lang	No	—	UI language (e.g. en)
maxResults	No	"50"	Max results per query. Free users capped at 200; paying users uncapped.

Tip: Prefer focused phrases. maxResults is per query (ten queries × 50 ≈ 500 video rows).

---

Output

Successful hits are type: "video" tagged with the originating query. Failed queries produce type: "error" while other queries continue.

---

Why choose this Actor

• Fast keyword discovery — Structured hits that fit Apify pricing
• Locale-aware — Country and language inputs for regional results
• Pipeline-friendly — Hand IDs to Video, Related, or Subtitles scrapers
• Clear caps — Control volume per query with maxResults

---

Pricing

$0.39 per 1,000 results on Apify. Free users: maxResults capped at 200 per query. See the Store page.

---

FAQ

How deep does search go per query?

Each query returns a bounded set of top results controlled by maxResults. Prefer refined queries and schedules for broader coverage.

How do I start?

Pass queries, optionally set country / lang / maxResults, start the run, export the Dataset.

Can I track keywords weekly?

Yes. Save a keyword list as a task, schedule it, and diff videoId sets. Keep maxResults modest and dedupe across queries.

Why fewer rows than maxResults?

Expected when fewer matching videos are available for that query.

Does a high maxResults return unlimited results?

No. Cap realistically — results are bounded per query.

---

Related Actors

Actor	Use it for
YouTube Video Scraper	Enrich hit IDs
YouTube Related Videos Scraper	Expand neighborhoods
YouTube Subtitles Scraper	Caption selected hits
YouTube Channel Scraper	Profile channels from results

Use only on public search results per YouTube’s terms and applicable law.