Trying to figure out how YouTube’s one billion monthly users are interacting with your videos? Try the new YouTube Analytics API to get custom reports of the YouTube statistics you care about in a direct JSON or CSV response, perfect for dashboards and ad hoc reports.
The new API includes all the standard view and engagement metrics you would expect, including views, shares, and subscriber numbers. Compared to the previous Insight Data API, you also get:
- Watch metrics: Track estimated minutes watched across channel, content owner, or video, and dive into the video details with average view time and average view percentage.
- Earning performance metrics: Track estimated earnings (net revenue) from select advertising sources across your content.
- Ad performance metrics: Break down video performance with monetized playbacks, ad impressions, gross revenue, and cost per impression reports.
- Annotation metrics: Optimize overlays/annotations with click through and close rate metrics.
Client Libraries and Code Samples
You’ll find client libraries for the languages you use most, with nine different languages available today. You can also make HTTP RESTful requests directly, and with our API Explorer, you can try out sample reports before writing any code.
Don’t write your code from scratch! Get started with code examples in Java, JavaScript, Python, and Ruby. If you want a step-by-step walkthrough of building a complete web application, have a look at our JavaScript exercise.
App Examples
Check out some apps that are already using the API:
 |
| Next Big Sound |
 |
| VidIQ |
- Next Big Sound provides analytics and insights for the music industry by tracking billions of social signals including YouTube. This enables record labels, artists, and band managers to make better decisions on everything from promotion strategies to tour locations.
- vidIQ is an audience development suite that works with global brands to organically grow their views and subscribers. Their features include cross-platform social analytics, advanced comment management, SEO tools, social syndication and influencer identification.
 |
| Wizdeo |
 |
| Vidyard |
- Wizdeo’s WizTracker provides in-depth analysis of YouTube channels to help with cross promotion and video comparisons during their initial launch. Users get access to detailed analytics about views, subscriber engagement, traffic sources and demographics.
- Vidyard is a video marketing platform. With powerful analytics, built-in marketing tools, and integration with key marketing automation platforms, Vidyard helps marketers drive results with video content.
 |
| Fullscreen |
- Fullscreen is building a global network of YouTube channels with content creators and brands. Fullscreen provides a full suite of end-to-end YouTube tools and uses the new API for internal, business-intelligence tools.
Learn More
In addition to the documentation, check out our Analytics API playlist to make getting started even easier.
If your goal is to export all statistics for a large number of channels on a recurring basis for your data warehouse, look forward to using the upcoming scheduled reports feature of the API, expected to launch later this year.
Cheers,
When we began building the new YouTube app for Nintendo Wii, we wanted to make video playback smooth and beautiful. This meant squeezing the most available power from the console CPU and fitting the video decoding process within the tight bounds of available memory. After trying out several video encoding formats on Wii, we found that 360p WebM encoding performed the best. With the largest install base of current generation consoles, YouTube on Wii is the largest deployment of WebM video in the world today.
WebM is particularly well-suited to devices where available memory is limited, because of its technical approach to video encoding. VP8, the video codec in WebM, uses reference frames (called alternative reference frames, or “alt-ref”) from which adjacent video frames are derived and compressed. This type of compression is commonly used in modern video encoding schemes, but VP8 uses the technique with particular efficiency, which results in a smaller memory footprint and smoother video playback on Wii.
We went one step further and performed low-level optimization of the VP8 decoder specifically tuned to the Wii’s processor. This included: using paired-single floating point operations to perform motion compensation, loop filtering, and idct; using the GPU to do color conversion and scaling; and dcbz instructions to copy buffers. This kind of optimization is available to anyone, as the VP8 code is open source under a BSD license.
We’ll keep looking into other ways we can use WebM, so stay tuned on this blog to learn more.
Fritz Koenig, Engineer, recently watched Phantogram – “Don’t Move”, and Matt Darby, Product Manager, recently watched “JP Auclair Street Segment.”
We’re constantly amazed at the innovative ways that developers incorporate YouTube into their applications. At Google I/O this year, 12 partners (over 30% from outside the U.S.) demonstrated their apps in the YouTube section of the Developer Sandbox, a demo area highlighting applications based on technologies and products featured at I/O.
Google’s own Daniel Sieberg, an Emmy-nominated journalist, interviewed some of our partners about their use of the YouTube APIs.
With Daniel’s hectic schedule, he only had time to interview a handful of our great partners. With that in mind, we highlighted all the awesome apps showcased by our partners at the YouTube API Developer Sandbox.
Business.me (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
Business.me, headquartered in Singapore, is the place to share and discover videos about business. They have created a video-sharing site to help producers of business videos reach their audience. The site also helps business professionals discover relevant business information in video format. |
| Fun Fact |
Oscar Moreno, CEO, not only holds Business and Law degrees, he helped launch several startups (Business.me, Netjuice, Keldoo, and Tuenti). |
Code Hero (YouTube Data API)
| Overview |
Code Hero teaches you to code through a fun, 3D game. Become a code hero and shape the future! |
| Fun Fact |
The Code Hero Team implemented the recording mechanism in the game that exports to YouTube at a 3 day hackathon!
Bonus: The game has sharks with lasers attached to their heads! |
Flipboard (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
See everything on Flipboard, all your news and life’s great moments in one place. Using the YouTube Data API, Flipboard lets users discover, rate, share, and comment on top videos from YouTube. In addition, users can access their own videos and subscriptions, and subscribe to other YouTube users. |
| Fun Fact |
Flipboard launched an Android app one week before I/O with a YouTube and Google+ integration! |
| Overview |
Gather your friends and set up your own production crew inside PlayStation®Home! What will you be? Director? Actor? Cinematographer? Extra? Try them all! Check out the amazing Machinima tools to help you record, light and build your film or television sets! What will you make? |
| Fun Fact |
LOOT gives you tons of sets to make your own movies (machinima) on the PS3, including a Ghostbusters Firehouse Stage Set! |
Moviecom.tv (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
A simple and easy online video platform for businesses. Record, centralize and share instantly. Moviecom.tv also allows you to link directly to your YouTube account through the YouTube APIs. |
| Fun Fact |
The founders flew all the way from Glasgow to attend Google I/O! |
Parrot (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
The Parrot AR.Drone is a quadricopter that can be controlled by a smartphone or tablet. Get more out of your AR.Drone with the AR.Drone Academy. Keep track of all your flights on the Academy map. Watch your best videos with added statistical feedback and directly share online with pilots from all over the world! |
| Fun Fact |
Parrot makes remote controlled flying devices that can record and track their flights! |
| Overview |
Picotube uses content from YouTube and allows users to create avatars, watch clips together, create playlists, and rate videos selected by other video jockeys. |
| Fun Fact |
Picotube was the Grand Prix winner of TechCrunch Tokyo 2011! |
Skimble (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API, and new Android Player API)
| Overview |
Here to power the mobile fitness movement, Skimble offers fun, dynamic and social applications for everyone. Available now are Skimble’s Workout Trainer and GPS Sports Tracker apps that help motivate people to get and stay active. Skimble uses the YouTube Player API to display fitness videos. |
| Fun Fact |
Co-founder Maria Ly got the crowd moving at one of YouTube’s Google I/O Sessions! |
Squrl (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
Squrl is a great place to watch and discover video. Know what videos are trending, receive recommendations on what to watch and see what your friends are watching. |
| Fun Fact |
Co-founders Mark Gray and Michael Hoydich also founded the successful software development company IndustryNext together in 2004! |
Telestream (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
Telestream demonstrated Wirecast for YouTube, a live video production and streaming product, which was developed specifically for Google YouTube partners. Telestream specializes in products that make it possible to get video content to any audience regardless of how the content is created, distributed or viewed (entire process). |
| Fun Fact |
Telestream’s NASCAR Project won the IBC2012 Innovation Award! |
Vidcaster (YouTube Data API and YouTube Player API)
| Overview |
VidCaster is a video site creation platform that allows you to create a video portal instantly from your existing video library on YouTube or other video hosts. Choose from a beautiful set of designer themes and customize to your heart’s content using VidCaster’s powerful template language. |
| Fun Fact |
Kieran Farr, CEO and co-founder, used to drive a taxi full-time in San Francisco before becoming a successful entrepreneur! |
WeVideo (YouTube Data API)
| Overview |
WeVideo is a cloud-based video editing suite that allows easy, full-featured, collaborative HD video editing across Google Drive, Chromebooks, and Android devices. |
| Fun Fact |
WeVideo partnered with Marvel and YouTube to allow fans to create their own trailers! |
It’s never been easier to create compelling videos and build a social presence on YouTube. At this year’s Google I/O, YouTube product managers and channel gurus Dror and A.J. presented tips and tricks for making great content centered around raising brand awareness, raising money, and obtaining feedback about your products and services.
Don’t worry if you missed their talk, we recorded it! So, sit back, grab some popcorn, and get ready to learn how to showcase your brand in front of YouTube’s 800 million unique visitors per month!
Click here to view the slides from the video above.
Not sold yet? Well, have a sneak peek at some of the great material they cover below, and remember Dror and A.J.’s number one recommendation: make content, not commercials!
Sneak Peek
- Tips and Tricks
- Hook the user in the first 15 seconds (or they’ll leave)
- Brand your channel!
- Make the most of your budget
- Many, many more…
- What’s your goal?
- Raising awareness
- Master your PR via video (include all your features and make bloggers’ lives easier)
- Provide product/service demo videos to promote your company
- Tell backstories about clients using your products/services
- Raising money
- Add video to your crowdfunding pitch to increase funds raised by 114% (source: Indiegogo)
- Researching and supporting users
- Record tutorials to promote and educate (see which features are the most popular using YouTube’s Analytics… you might be surprised)
- Use Google Hangouts for scalable office hours and virtual focus groups
- Figure out what features customers like/dislike via the world’s largest focus group
- Resources to learn more
Wow, you made it this far without watching the video? Did we tell you they fill the presentation with awesome videos that showcase their points (including Chuck Testa)? Nope!? Well, now you know, and you will definitely want to watch the whole thing!
-Jeremy Walker, YouTube API Team
