Use the YouTube data source connector to pull your video data easily to your reports. Quickly see which content has created the most engagement — see how your video's likes, comments, and channel subscribers have changed over time and if there are any seasonal differences.
For a full list of metrics and dimensions available in our YouTube data source connector, take a look at our YouTube documentation.
Once you’ve connected to YouTube, you’re ready to create your first query in Google Sheets, Looker Studio, or Excel.
Query types for this data source
When connecting to the YouTube data source, you need to select a query type. The query type defines what sort of metrics and dimensions are available.
- Videos performance: Fetches engagement data per video, for up to 1000 of the most recently published videos on the selected channel. Splittable by date.
- Single video performance: Fetches engagement data per specific video, defined with a video ID. Splittable by date.
- Channel overview: Performance data for the channel, such as subscribers, likes, and average view duration.
- Geographies: Breakdown of viewer engagement by country and state
- Demographic: Breakdown of viewer percentage by age and gender
- Device: Breakdown of viewer engagement by device type and operating system
- Traffic sources: Breakdown of viewer engagement by traffic source
- Ad performance: Gross revenue and ad impressions for your channel, broken down by ad type
Note that to pull monetization data, your YouTube channel must have monetization enabled.
Try these queries
See the following use cases for examples on how to use the metrics and dimensions.
See video views, likes, and comments
Take a look at the number of views, likes, and comments for the videos on your channel. In this example, pull the data for the last 28 days.
Use the Videos performance query type.
The "Views" metric shows the number of times that a video was viewed. In a playlist report, the metric indicates the number of times that a video was viewed in the context of a playlist.
The "Likes" metric shows the number of times that users indicated that they liked a video by giving it a positive rating.
The "Comments" metric shows the number of times that users commented on a video.
For best results in Looker Studio, use the table or table chart type.
- Select the Videos performance query type.
- Set the date range to Last 28 days.
- Select the Video views, Likes, and Comments metrics.
- Select the Video title and Video ID dimensions to split the data by video title and ID.
See video views by country
Explore the geographical distribution of your audience for this month.
Use the Geographies query type.
The "Views" metric shows the number of times that a video was viewed. In a playlist report, the metric indicates the number of times that a video was viewed in the context of a playlist.
For best results in Looker Studio, use the geo chart type.
- Select the Geographies query type.
- Set the date range to This month to date.
- Select the Video views metric.
- Select the Country dimension to split the results by country.
See viewer demographics
Take a look at the viewer demographics for your channel. In this example, we pull the data for the last week and split it by age group and gender.
Use the Demographic query type.
The "Viewer percentage" metric shows the percentage of viewers who were logged in when watching the video or playlist.
For best results in Looker Studio, use the bar or column chart type.
- Select the Demographic query type.
- Set the date range to Last week.
- Select the Viewer percentage metric.
- Select the Age group and Gender dimensions to split the data by age group and gender.
See channel totals
Get an overview of your YouTube channel. These are static lifetime values and are fetched when the query is refreshed.
Use the Channel overview query type.
The "Channel total subscribers" metric shows the number of subscribers that the channel has (all time). This value is rounded down to three significant figures.
The "Channel total video count" metric shows the number of public videos uploaded to the channel (all time). Note that the value reflects the count of the channel's public videos only.
The "Channel total page views" metric shows the number of times the channel has been viewed (all time).
For best results in Looker Studio, use the table chart type.
- Select the Channel overview query type.
- Set the date range to Today.
- Select the Channel total subscribers, Channel total video count, and Channel total page views metrics.
- Select the Channel name dimension to split the query results by channel name.
See audience engagement
Get an overview of the audience activity on your channel. In the example, we take a look at how the audience views, likes, and subscribers have changed over the last 28 days.
Use the Channel overview query type.
The "Views" metric shows the number of times that a video was viewed. In a playlist report, the metric indicates the number of times that a video was viewed in the context of a playlist.
The "Likes" metric shows the number of times that users indicated that they liked a video by giving it a positive rating.
The "Gained subscribers" metric shows the number of times that users subscribed to a channel.
The "Lost subscribers" metric shows the number of times that users unsubscribed from a channel.
For best results in Looker Studio, use the time series chart type.
- Select the Channel overview query type.
- Set the date range to Last 28 days.
- Select the Views, Likes, Gained subscribers, and Lost subscribers metrics.
- Select the Date dimension to split the query results by date.
Set up scheduled refreshes for your reports
You can set up scheduled refreshes for your reports created in Google Sheets and Excel. Follow the instructions on how to create and manage scheduled reports in Google Sheets and how to set up scheduled report triggers in Excel.
In Looker Studio, you can have a copy of your report emailed to you and important stakeholders at regular intervals.
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