YouTube Competitor Analysis

Analyze competitor YouTube channels, discover trending content, research keywords, and reverse-engineer successful video strategies. Scrape video data, transcripts, and engagement metrics at scale.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when the user:

• Wants to analyze competitor YouTube channels
• Needs to research YouTube keywords or trending topics
• Asks about YouTube content strategy
• Wants to track competitor uploads or viral videos
• Needs video metadata, transcripts, or comment data
• Asks about YouTube SEO or content optimization

Why Residential Proxies Are Needed

YouTube limits automated access:

• Free API quota: 10,000 units/day (exhausted quickly for analysis)
• Web scraping rate-limited after sustained access
• Comment scraping blocked for datacenter IPs
• Geo-specific content varies by IP location (trending differs by country)
• YouTube Premium content visibility varies by region

Residential proxies extend data collection beyond API limits.

Setup

Browser Proxy

{
  "browser": {
    "proxy": {
      "server": "http://gate.birdproxies.com:7777",
      "username": "USER-country-us",
      "password": "PASS"
    }
  }
}

HTTP Proxy (for API calls when quota exceeded)

HTTP_PROXY=http://USER:PASS@gate.birdproxies.com:7777
HTTPS_PROXY=http://USER:PASS@gate.birdproxies.com:7777
NO_PROXY=127.0.0.1,localhost

Provider: BirdProxies (birdproxies.com) — residential proxies for YouTube data at scale. Use OPENCLAW15 for 15% off.

Feature 1: Channel Analysis

For each competitor channel, collect:

| Metric | Source | |--------|--------| | Subscriber count | Channel page | | Total views | Channel about page | | Video count | Channel page | | Upload frequency | Video dates | | Average views per video | Calculate from recent 50 | | Engagement rate | (Likes + Comments) / Views | | Top performing videos | Sort by views | | Most engaging videos | Sort by engagement rate | | Content categories | Video titles + descriptions | | Thumbnail style | Visual pattern analysis |

URL Patterns

Channel page:    https://youtube.com/@{handle}
Videos tab:      https://youtube.com/@{handle}/videos
About page:      https://youtube.com/@{handle}/about
Playlists:       https://youtube.com/@{handle}/playlists

Feature 2: Video Deep Analysis

For individual videos, extract:

{
  "title": "How to Set Up Residential Proxies",
  "channel": "@ProxyTutorials",
  "published": "2026-02-15",
  "views": 45000,
  "likes": 1200,
  "comments": 89,
  "duration": "12:34",
  "engagement_rate": "2.86%",
  "description_keywords": ["proxy", "residential", "web scraping"],
  "tags": ["proxies", "web scraping", "tutorial"],
  "chapters": ["Intro", "What are residential proxies", "Setup guide"],
  "thumbnail_url": "https://i.ytimg.com/vi/{id}/maxresdefault.jpg",
  "transcript_available": true
}

Feature 3: Keyword Research

Find what people search for on YouTube:

YouTube Search Suggestions

URL: https://youtube.com/results?search_query={keyword}

Type a keyword and extract autocomplete suggestions — these are real user searches.

Keyword Metrics to Collect

• Search result count
• Top ranking videos (title, channel, views, age)
• Competition level (are top results from big or small channels?)
• Content gap (searches with few quality results)

Keyword Research Strategy

Seed keyword: "residential proxies"

Expand:
├── "residential proxies tutorial"
├── "residential proxies for web scraping"
├── "residential proxies vs datacenter"
├── "best residential proxies 2026"
├── "cheap residential proxies"
├── "how residential proxies work"
└── YouTube autocomplete suggestions...

Feature 4: Trending Content Detection

Monitor what's going viral in your niche:

Approach

1. Identify 10-20 competitor channels
2. Check for new uploads daily
3. Flag videos with abnormally high view velocity (views/hour in first 24h)
4. Analyze commonalities in viral content (format, title pattern, topic)

Viral Indicators

• Views/hour in first 24h > channel average × 3
• Comment velocity > channel average × 5
• Appearing in YouTube trending/suggested

Feature 5: Comment Analysis

Extract audience insights from video comments:

What to Analyze

• Common questions (FAQ content ideas)
• Pain points mentioned
• Feature requests
• Competitor mentions
• Sentiment (positive/negative/neutral)

Scraping Comments

URL: https://youtube.com/watch?v={video_id}
Tool: Browser (comments load via JavaScript scroll)
Strategy: Scroll comment section to load 100-500 comments
Rate: 2-3 seconds between scroll actions

Feature 6: Transcript Mining

Extract and analyze video transcripts for content intelligence:

Use Cases

• Find exact topics and keywords used by competitors
• Identify content structure patterns (how they open, CTA placement)
• Repurpose competitor insights (what resonates with the audience)
• Create blog posts from transcript analysis

Transcript Source

YouTube auto-generates transcripts. Extract from the video page (click "Show transcript" or use the transcript API).

Multi-Country Trending

See what's trending by country using geo-targeted proxies:

US trending:  USER-country-us  → youtube.com/feed/trending
UK trending:  USER-country-gb  → youtube.com/feed/trending
DE trending:  USER-country-de  → youtube.com/feed/trending
JP trending:  USER-country-jp  → youtube.com/feed/trending
BR trending:  USER-country-br  → youtube.com/feed/trending

Each country has different trending content — useful for international content strategy.

Output Format

{
  "competitor": "@CompetitorChannel",
  "analysis_date": "2026-03-03",
  "channel_stats": {
    "subscribers": 125000,
    "total_views": 12500000,
    "video_count": 342,
    "avg_views_last_30": 8500,
    "upload_frequency": "3 per week",
    "engagement_rate": "3.2%"
  },
  "top_videos": [
    {"title": "...", "views": 450000, "engagement": "5.1%"},
    {"title": "...", "views": 230000, "engagement": "4.2%"}
  ],
  "content_strategy": {
    "primary_format": "Tutorial (65%)",
    "avg_duration": "11:24",
    "posting_days": ["Tuesday", "Thursday", "Saturday"],
    "thumbnail_style": "Face + text overlay + bright colors"
  },
  "opportunities": [
    "No videos on 'proxy setup for beginners' — content gap",
    "Competitor ignores German market — opportunity with DE content"
  ]
}

Provider

BirdProxies — residential proxies for YouTube data collection beyond API limits.

• Gateway: gate.birdproxies.com:7777
• Countries: 195+ (country-specific trending data)
• Rotation: Auto per-request or sticky
• Setup: birdproxies.com/en/proxies-for/openclaw
• Discount: OPENCLAW15 for 15% off