YouTube Competitor Analyzer

Find and analyze competitor channels using YouTube Data API v3.

Setup

1. API Key: Get from Google Cloud Console - enable YouTube Data API v3
2. Input: User's channel (for context) OR list of competitor channels to analyze directly

API Endpoints

BASE_URL = https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3

# Search channels
GET /search?part=snippet&q={query}&type=channel&maxResults={n}&key={API_KEY}

# Channel details
GET /channels?part=snippet,statistics,contentDetails,brandingSettings&id={ids}&key={API_KEY}

# Channel videos
GET /search?part=snippet&channelId={id}&order=date&type=video&maxResults=50&key={API_KEY}

# Video details
GET /videos?part=snippet,statistics,contentDetails&id={ids}&key={API_KEY}

Competitor Discovery Methods

1. Keyword Search

Extract keywords from user's channel (description, title, brandingSettings.keywords), search for channels:

GET /search?q={keyword}&type=channel&maxResults=10

2. Content Similarity

Get user's recent video titles, extract frequent words (>4 chars), search channels with those terms.

3. Category Search

Search within same YouTube category as user's channel.

4. Related Discovery

Search using user's video titles/descriptions to find channels creating similar content.

5. Direct Input

User provides specific channels to analyze: @handles, channel IDs, or URLs.

Competitor Ranking

// Size similarity (log scale)
sizeSimilarity = 1 - Math.abs(Math.log10(compSubs+1) - Math.log10(targetSubs+1)) / 10;

// Engagement per video
engagementRate = viewCount / (videoCount || 1);

// Overall score
overallScore = sizeSimilarity * 0.3 + relevanceScore * 0.7;

Sort by overallScore, return top 10-15.

Comparative Analysis

For each competitor, extract:

Metric	Description
Subscribers	Direct count
Total Views	Channel lifetime views
Video Count	Total videos published
Views/Video	Average performance
Upload Frequency	Videos per month
Channel Age	Days since creation

Compare user channel vs competitor averages:

• Above/below average positioning
• Growth rate comparison
• Content volume gaps

Content Gap Analysis

Compare across competitors:

• Content types they cover vs user doesn't
• Duration preferences
• Upload schedules
• Title/thumbnail patterns
• High-performing topics

Output Report Structure

# Competitive Analysis Report
## Executive Summary
- Competitors found, key positioning insights
## Competitor Table
| Channel | Subs | Videos | Views | Views/Video | Score |
## Competitive Positioning
- User vs competitor averages
- Market position assessment
## Content Strategy Comparison
- What competitors do differently
- Common patterns among top performers
## Opportunities
- Content gaps to fill
- Underserved niches
- Schedule optimization
## Recommendations
- Strategic actions based on analysis

Niche-Specific Search Terms

For spiritual/wellness channels:

meditation, mindfulness, yoga, spiritual, consciousness, wellness, self-help, awakening

For tech channels:

tech review, unboxing, tutorial, how to, comparison, tips, gadget

For gaming:

gameplay, let's play, walkthrough, gaming, stream, esports

Quota Optimization

• Limit discovery to 20-30 initial channels
• Detailed analysis for top 10-15 only
• Batch video IDs (max 50 per call)
• Cache results when comparing multiple times