YouTube Shorts Scraper

Introduction

YouTube Shorts Scraper is a specialized tool designed to extract data from YouTube Shorts. This actor allows you to effortlessly scrape YouTube Shorts data, including video IDs, titles, URLs, views, likes, comments, and more. You can also retrieve basic channel information such as the channel title, handle, and URL.

Key Features

• Extract YouTube Shorts data with ease.
• Retrieve essential channel information.
• Configure the maximum number of Shorts to scrape.
• Control the rate of requests with an optional setting.

Typical Use Cases

• Content Analysis: Analyze the performance of YouTube Shorts from specific channels.
• Trend Monitoring: Keep track of popular Shorts content and engagement.
• Competitive Research: Monitor your competitors' Shorts content and performance.

Inputs

The actor takes the following inputs:

• Start URLs: A list of YouTube channel names or URLs you want to scrape Shorts from.
• Max Items: The maximum number of YouTube Shorts to scrape from each specified channel.
• Max Concurrency: An optional setting to control the number of parallel requests to YouTube's servers.

Input Examples

Start URLs:

• Example 1: ["@MrBeast"]
• Example 2: ["https://www.youtube.com/@MrBeast"]

Max Items:

• Example: 50

Max Concurrency:

• Example: 10

Outputs

The actor produces the following outputs:

• YouTube Shorts Data: A JSON array containing details of each scraped YouTube Short, including video IDs, titles, URLs, views, likes, comments, and more.
• Channel Details: Basic channel information, including the channel title, handle, and URL.

Output Example

1{
2    "videoId": "Shorts_VIDEO_ID",
3    "title": "Short video title",
4    "url": "https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Shorts_VIDEO_ID",
5    "viewCount": 1000000,
6    "likeCount": 50000,
7    "commentCount": 1000,
8    "channelTitle": "Channel Name",
9    "channelUrl": "https://www.youtube.com/@ChannelHandle",
10    "publishedAt": "2023-01-01T00:00:00Z"
11}

Usage

How to Run the Actor

1. Go to Apify and log in or create an account.
2. Create a new task and select the "YouTube Shorts Scraper" actor.
3. Configure the actor's input settings by providing the YouTube channel names or URLs and specifying the maximum number of Shorts to scrape.
4. (Optional) Adjust the max concurrency if needed.
5. Start the task and wait for it to complete.
6. Once finished, access the scraped data in the task's dataset.

How to Interpret the Actor's Results

The actor will provide you with a JSON dataset containing the scraped YouTube Shorts data and channel details. Each Short will have its own set of properties, as described in the "Outputs" section.

Troubleshooting

Common Problems and Solutions

• Problem: The actor is not returning any data.

  • Solution: Verify that the YouTube channel names or URLs are correct and that the channels have Shorts available.

• Problem: Rate limiting issues.

  • Solution: If you encounter rate limiting, try reducing the "Max Concurrency" input or contact Apify support for assistance.

Additional Information

Links to Related Resources

• Apify Platform
• Apify SDK Documentation

Acknowledgements

This actor is powered by Apify, a leading web scraping and automation platform. Special thanks to the Apify team for their support and infrastructure.