The first YouTube tool that I used (and wrote about) was the YouTube Data Viewer from Amnesty International.
Released in the summer of 2014, it enabled you to enter a YouTube URL and receive the exact upload date, as well as several thumbnails you could use for reverse image searches. It was an early verification/OSINT tool that inspired many more over the ensuing years.
Today it’s much easier to extract a wide range of information about a YouTube video or channel. That’s good news because YouTube has become the dominant global media platform and is eating the TV, film, and podcast business. It’s also home to oceans of AI slop, extremist content, state-backed propaganda, and all manner of channels, content, and creators that are worthy of investigation.
I tested more than a dozen tools that can help you search YouTube, extract useful data from videos and channels, discover and analyze trends, identify similar channels, and more. They support a variety of investigative approaches, including:
Verifying and geolocating videos
Searching for videos and channels/creators
Investigating channel content and ownership
Identifying related channels and videos
Identifying and analyzing trending videos, creators, and video categories
Nearly all of the tools use the free YouTube API to grab data. Some enrich it with historical data and other proprietary information. I focused on tools that are either completely free or that at least offer a useful free version.
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