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YouTube Public surfaces publicly visible channel and video metrics for any YouTube channels designated as monitoring targets. It is intended for competitive monitoring, brand-mention tracking, and influencer analytics across channels that are not owned by the connecting account. A Google account authorizes the connection so the YouTube Data API can be called, but it does not need to own the monitored channels.

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Before you connect

The following are required:
  • A Google account authorized to grant the youtube.readonly scope. The account does not need to own the monitored channels — its credentials only authorize API access.
  • One or more public YouTube channel IDs, handles, or URLs to monitor.
  • Workspace permission to add a new data source.

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Connect YouTube Public

1

Authorize a Google account

On the Data Sources page, search for YouTube Public and select it. Click Sign in with Google in the pop-up, then click Continue to allow access to the YouTube account. The consent screen is intentionally shown on every authorization to guarantee a fresh refresh token — complete it even on repeat connections.
2

Add the channels to monitor

On the data source settings, fill in the required fields. In YouTube channels ID, enter the last part of each channel URL. Connect multiple channels by separating them with a comma, for example @channel1,@channel2,@channel3. If a channel ID includes @, include the @ in the input. In Human-readable name, enter any identifiable name for the data source.
3

Set the video limit (optional)

Choose the maximum number of videos to import per channel. With many channels or many videos per channel, a high limit can exceed the daily YouTube Data API quota.
4

Submit

Click Submit to complete the connection. Initial data availability can take up to one business day.

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What gets imported

Channel-level snapshots — subscriber count, cumulative view count, video count, channel title, and channel description — are captured for each monitored channel, alongside per-video metrics such as views, likes, comments, publish timestamp, and video title. Values refresh daily and are stored as snapshots, so trend data accumulates from the day a channel is first tracked. There is no backfill for periods before a channel was added. For the complete list of metrics and breakdowns, see the YouTube Public data reference.

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Troubleshooting

Google issues a refresh token only when the consent prompt is shown. If a connection fails on the initial token exchange, reconnect and complete the consent screen rather than skipping it.
Videos that are deleted, set to private, or geo-restricted in the region where the API call originates stop returning new metrics. Cached snapshots from earlier refreshes remain queryable.
The YouTube Data API charges quota units against the Google Cloud project linked to the OAuth grant, with a default of 10,000 units per day. Heavy multi-channel monitoring can exhaust the cap. Request a quota increase from Google to scale further.
Channel and video counts are captured at refresh time. There is no historical backfill for periods before the monitored channel was first added.

YouTube Public data reference

Metrics, breakdowns, and limits for YouTube Public.

YouTube Public FAQs

Common questions and expected behaviors for the YouTube Public data source.

How to connect YouTube Analytics

Connect owned-channel YouTube analytics.

YouTube Analytics data reference

Metrics, breakdowns, and limits for YouTube Analytics.