Scraping YouTube Channel Data Using Python – No API Needed!

[Lomanu4]

Recently, I built a Python-based scraper that collects public video data from YouTube channels — without using the official API. This was a fun and insightful project where I explored how YouTube structures its data and how to extract information efficiently.

? What It Does


The script can extract the following:

• Video Titles
• View Counts
• Publish Dates
• Video URLs
• Thumbnails

It works directly from channel pages by sending requests and parsing the HTML with BeautifulSoup.

? Demo Video


I recorded a short demo of the scraper in action:

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? Source Code on GitHub


The complete Python code is open-source and available here:

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? Libraries Used

• requests
• BeautifulSoup (from bs4)
• re for regex
• json for parsing dynamic data blocks

? Why No API?


YouTube's official Data API has:

• Quota limitations
• Requires API key setup
• More overhead for small-scale scrapers

So I challenged myself to build a solution that works purely via scraping — lightweight and fast.

? Next Steps


I’m considering adding:

• CLI flags for custom inputs
• CSV/JSON export support
• Playlist/channel crawler
• Error handling & logging

Would love feedback and suggestions from the community!

? Let’s Connect


If you've worked on similar projects or want to collaborate, feel free to reach out. Also open to contributors or testers!

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