Deprecated Features for YouTube API v2.0

Note: The YouTube Data API (v2) has been officially deprecated as of March 4, 2014. Please refer to our deprecation policy for more information.

Even though the YouTube Data API (v2) has been officially deprecated, some API functions will stop working (and return errors) sooner than other functions. Some of these functions were explicitly excluded from the deprecation policy while others return errors because of changes in the underlying product functionality. For example, if a feature is removed from the YouTube website, the corresponding API function typically returns an error. This page lists API functions that already return errors or will start returning errors earlier than the rest of the API. We recommend that you review their documentation for suggested alternatives.

  • Authentication protocols

    • OAuth 1.0 – The OAuth protocol provides a standard way to access protected data on different websites. It is an open protocol that can be implemented on other websites. Your applications should use OAuth 2.0 authentication instead of OAuth 1.0.

    • AuthSub – Google's Authorization Proxy service, called AuthSub, enables a user to grant a web application access to services protected by the user's Google or Google Apps account without having to provide account login information to the application. Your applications should use OAuth 2.0 authentication instead of AuthSub.

    • ClientLogin – The ClientLogin authorization method lets installed applications exchange information with Google services protected by a user's Google or Google Apps account. Your applications should use OAuth 2.0 authentication instead of ClientLogin.

  • Features

    • Standard video feeds (except the most_popular feed)

      All standard video feeds except the most_popular feed have been deprecated. In response to requests for other feeds, the API will return the most_popular feed with a default time parameter value of today. In addition, if your request for another feed specifies a region or category, the API will return the most_popular feed for that region or category.

      The list below identifies the feeds that have been deprecated. All of these feeds were officially deprecated on September 12, 2013, except the most_viewed feed, which was deprecated on July 23, 2012.

      • top_rated
      • top_favorites
      • most_shared
      • most_recent
      • most_discussed
      • most_responded
      • recently_featured
      • on_the_web
      • most_viewed

      Note: Since the most_popular standard video feed is still supported, the API documentation still covers standard video feeds.

    • Video responses

      A YouTube video response was a video that was associated, as a reply, with a second video. The video responses feature has been retired as explained in this announcement. While existing video responses are still available, YouTube no longer supports the ability to retrieve a list of video responses for a video, to upload new video responses, or to delete video responses, though you can delete the video that was used in a video response. Consequently, these functions are also no longer supported in the API.

      API requests for video response operations now return the following:

      • A request to retrieve video responses for a video returns an empty list.
      • A request to add a video response returns a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to delete a video response returns a 403 HTTP response code.

    • Contacts

      The YouTube API's support for some functionality related to contacts will begin returning errors as soon as March 31, 2014. Following that date, API requests for contact-related operations will return the following:

      • A request to retrieve contacts will continue to work for around six months after that date. After that time, the API will return an empty list in response to requests for contact feeds.
      • A request to add a contact will return a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to update a contact will return a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to delete a contact will return a 403 HTTP response code.

    • Messages

      The YouTube API's support for some functionality related to messages (inbox feeds) will begin returning errors as soon as March 31, 2014. Following that date, API requests for message-related operations will return the following:

      • A request to retrieve messages will continue to work for around six months after that date. After that time, the API will return an empty list in response to requests for inbox feeds.
      • A request to send a message will return a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to delete a message will return a 403 HTTP response code.

    • Live events (Retired)

      The API's functionality for retrieving live events was deprecated as of February 26, 2014. This functionality was explicitly excluded from the API features subject to the Deprecation Policy. Please use the YouTube Live Streaming API for applications that create or manage live broadcasts on YouTube.

      API requests for live event operations now return the following:

      • A request to add a live event returns a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to update a live event returns a 403 HTTP response code.
      • A request to delete a live event returns a 403 HTTP response code.

    • Associating an unlinked Google Account with a YouTube channel

      To upgrade an unlinked Google Account so that it is associated with a YouTube username (and channel), update the user's profile by sending a PUT request to the following URL. Note that your request must provide an authentication token that identifies the user.

      https://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/users/default?v=2.1

      The body of the request is an Atom entry that uses the <yt:username> tag to specify the YouTube channel name that the user would like to have. We recommend that you use the username suggestions feed to ensure that the name that the user wants is, in fact, available.

      The sample request below demonstrates how to create a new YouTube channel and associate it with an unlinked Google Account:

      PUT /feeds/api/users/default HTTP/1.1
Host: gdata.youtube.com
Content-Type: application/atom+xml
Authorization: Bearer ACCESS_TOKEN
X-GData-Key: key=DEVELOPER_KEY

<entry xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom'
       xmlns:yt='http://gdata.youtube.com/schemas/2007'>
  <yt:username>RequestedUsername</yt:username>
</entry>

      The API will return a 200 (OK) HTTP response code if your request is successful. The following errors will also generate an HTTP error response code:

      • If your request does not specify a <yt:username> value, the API returns a 400 (Bad Request) HTTP response code.
      • If your request specifies a <yt:username> value that is already used by another YouTube user, the API returns a 400 (Bad Request) HTTP response code.
      • If your request does not specify an authentication token, the API returns a 401 (Unauthorized) HTTP response code.
      • If the authentication token provided with your request does not identify an unlinked Google Account, the API returns a 403 (Forbidden) HTTP response code.

    • Retrieving YouTube username suggestions

      Before upgrading an unlinked Google Account to associate it with a YouTube channel, you can retrieve a list of unused YouTube usernames that are based on a user-provided hint. To do so, send a GET request to the following URL, using the hint parameter to specify a value that should be used to generate the username suggestions. For example, the hint could be the user's first and last name or the username component of the user's email address.

      https://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/suggest/username?hint=John+Doe

      Note: An API request to retrieve username suggestions must specify your developer key.

      The API will return an Atom feed in which each entry's title tag contains a suggested YouTube username. We recommend that when retrieving this feed, you set the fields parameter value to entry/title, which restricts the response so that it only includes the information that you need.

      The sample feed below shows suggested usernames based on the hint value of SirCodeALot, which appears to be taken based on the suggestions. The request URL for this feed is:

      https://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/suggest/username?hint=SirCodeALot&v=2&fields=entry/title

      The API response is:

      <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom'>
  <entry>
    <title>SirALotCode</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>CodeSirALot</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>CodeALotSir</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>ALotSirCode</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>SirCodeALot1</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>ALotCode</title>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <title>ALotCodeSir</title>
  </entry>
</feed>
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