YouTube API Services disclosure

Data use and requested scope

A reviewer-oriented account of what Niche Lab currently collects, what it does not access, and which future capabilities remain subject to written acceptance.

Permission gate Not requested; protected functionality is disabled. YOUTUBE_ANALYTICS_REPORTING_APPROVED=false

Current endpoints

search.list: Bounded public-video discovery using configured text queries, date windows, video type, relevance-oriented ordering, one-page plans, and local quota guards.
videos.list: Batch enrichment of known public video identifiers for snippet, duration/content details, live status, and current public statistics.
channels.list: Batch enrichment of known public channel identifiers for channel metadata and current public statistics.

A possible future known-channel traversal may use playlistItems.list, but it is not part of the completed Phase 1 ledger. The client does not upload, edit, comment, rate, subscribe, or manage YouTube accounts.

Purpose and current processing

sample configured candidate niches and substantive subject families;
preserve exact discovery and API-request provenance;
deduplicate video entities while retaining all discovery evidence;
apply exact publication and 4-30 minute duration qualification after enrichment;
identify live, upcoming, and unusual formats explicitly; and
produce current descriptive inventory and data-quality reports for one operator.

Current access uses an API key and public, non-authorized YouTube Data API requests. There is no OAuth flow, private competitor analytics, YouTube Analytics API data, Reporting API data, user credential collection, or public end-user account.

Retention and deletion

Current public metadata and statistics are refreshed or deleted within 30 days. Project-generated provenance may be retained only when it does not reproduce expired API data. Details are in the privacy policy.

Up to 36 calendar months of public statistics and derived metrics would apply only after explicit acceptance and only to the exact approved data classes. Titles, creator names, descriptions, and comment text would continue to follow the standard 30-day rule.

Requested future Analytics and reporting scope

The future application is intended to request acceptance for this narrow internal research use case:

transparent YouTube-only video and channel ratios and baselines;
age-aware comparison, breakout, concentration, demand, and competition summaries;
custom research scores and rankings with methodology and provenance disclosure;
repeated public statistics and gain or velocity calculations;
additive topic/content categorization for niche research;
clearly labeled third-party financial projections only to the extent expressly accepted; and
up to 36 months of retention only for accepted statistical and derived data.

The request does not include viewer sentiment, gamification, brand-safety reporting, private Analytics API data, or authorized-channel data.

Controls and exclusions

Requested does not mean approved. No protected command exists. The repository requires a current approved database record with evidence and exact capability scope, plus the environment arming switch. The environment value alone cannot grant permission.

No current custom score, niche ranking, breakout metric, velocity, historical snapshot, content classification, or YouTube-derived financial projection.
No claim of competitor CPM, RPM, private reach, watch time, or monetization status.
No automated cross-source score combining YouTube API data with Ads, sponsor, benchmark, web, trend, or other external data.
External evidence remains separately sourced and may be synthesized only through documented human judgment unless written policy scope expressly permits more.

Official terms

Niche Lab uses YouTube API Services and is subject to the YouTube Terms of Service, the YouTube API Services Developer Policies, and the Google Privacy Policy.