# YouTube Search Scraper (`ayen-data/youtube-search-scraper`) Actor

Scrape video results from YouTube search. Extract titles, descriptions, view counts, durations, channels, badges, and thumbnails for any search query.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ayen-data/youtube-search-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Anyx Solutions](https://apify.com/ayen-data) (community)
- **Categories:** Social media, Automation, Videos
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 results

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 web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — 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

![banner](https://i.ibb.co/WpRsqkLm/Screenshot-2026-06-20-at-8-52-35-PM.png)

## YouTube Search Scraper

**Collect video results from YouTube search at scale — by any search query.**

The YouTube Search Scraper extracts structured video data from YouTube search results: titles,
descriptions, view counts, durations, publish times, channel badges, and thumbnails. It's built for
content strategists, market researchers, trend analysts, and anyone monitoring the creator economy.

### ⚡ Quick start

```json
{
  "search": ["AI tools 2024", "productivity apps", "startup marketing"],
  "maxVideos": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

**Use RESIDENTIAL proxy group for best results.**

Each query runs independently, and every matching video is saved as its own dataset record.

### 🧩 Input

| Field                | Type    | Required | Default                      | Description                                                                          |
| -------------------- | ------- | -------- | ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `search`             | array   | yes      | —                            | One or more search terms to look up on YouTube. Each query is scraped independently. |
| `maxVideos`          | integer | no       | `50`                         | Maximum number of videos to extract per search query (1–200).                        |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object  | no       | `{ "useApifyProxy": false }` | Apify proxy settings used for the run.                                               |

### 📤 Output

Each scraped video is pushed to the dataset as one record.

#### Fields

| Field               | Type     | Description                                               |
| ------------------- | -------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| `id`                | string   | YouTube video identifier.                                 |
| `title`             | string   | Video title.                                              |
| `description`       | string   | Description snippet shown in search results.              |
| `url`               | string   | Direct link to the video (`https://youtu.be/{id}`).       |
| `publishedTime`     | string   | Human-readable publish time (for example, "2 weeks ago"). |
| `videoLength`       | string   | Duration as shown in search results.                      |
| `viewCount`         | string   | View count as shown in search results.                    |
| `videoBadges`       | string\[] | Video badges (for example, "4K", "CC", "New").            |
| `channelBadges`     | string\[] | Channel badges (for example, "Verified").                 |
| `videoThumbnails`   | object\[] | Thumbnail objects with `url`, `width`, `height`.          |
| `channelThumbnails` | object\[] | Channel avatar thumbnail objects.                         |
| `searchQuery`       | string   | The search term that returned this video.                 |
| `scrapedAt`         | string   | ISO timestamp of when the record was scraped.             |

<details><summary>Example output</summary>

```json
{
  "id": "dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "title": "Example Video Title",
  "description": "A short description snippet from the search results.",
  "publishedTime": "2 weeks ago",
  "videoLength": "10:24",
  "viewCount": "1.2M views",
  "videoBadges": ["4K"],
  "channelBadges": ["Verified"],
  "videoThumbnails": [
    {
      "url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dQw4w9WgXcQ/hq720.jpg",
      "width": 720,
      "height": 404
    }
  ],
  "channelThumbnails": [
    { "url": "https://yt3.ggpht.com/...", "width": 68, "height": 68 }
  ],
  "url": "https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  "searchQuery": "Airplane",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-06-20T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

</details>

### 💡 Use cases

- **Content strategists** map trending topics and competitive positioning across queries.
- **Researchers** analyze view counts, publish times, and video formats at scale.
- **Trend analysts** monitor the creator economy and emerging content niches.
- **Marketers** identify authoritative creators and high-performing video formats.

### ❓ FAQ

- **What can be scraped?** Any public video that appears in YouTube search results for your queries.
- **Can I run multiple queries at once?** Yes — add several terms to `search` and each runs independently.
- **What if YouTube changes its site?** We maintain the scraper and update it when major changes affect functionality.

### 🔗 More scrapers by Anyx

- [Dice.fm Event Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/dice-fm-scraper)
- [Lu.ma Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/lu-ma-scraper)
- [TikTok Trending Hashtags Scraper](https://apify.com/anyxsolutions/tiktok-trending-hashtags-scraper)

### 🤝 Anyx Solutions

Anyx Solutions is an Apify Partner. We build custom scrapers and data-extraction pipelines.

- Email: scraping@anyx.solutions
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/anyx-solutions

### 🖼 Image credit

Image credit: [youtube.com](https://www.youtube.com/)

# Actor input Schema

## `search` (type: `array`):

One or more search terms to look up on YouTube. Each query is scraped independently and its results are saved to the dataset.

## `maxVideos` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of videos to extract for each search query.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Apify proxy settings used for the run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "search": [
    "Airplane"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 50,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true,
    "apifyProxyGroups": [
      "RESIDENTIAL"
    ]
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `overview` (type: `string`):

No description

# 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 = {
    "search": [
        "Airplane"
    ],
    "maxVideos": 50
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ayen-data/youtube-search-scraper").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 = {
    "search": ["Airplane"],
    "maxVideos": 50,
}

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

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "search": [
    "Airplane"
  ],
  "maxVideos": 50
}' |
apify call ayen-data/youtube-search-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=ayen-data/youtube-search-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/lSOcRSWL8sBWMZOIY/builds/cC4d8uToTu4CPr1th/openapi.json