How do I get localised titles and descriptions for automatically generated channels using Youtube API v3? - youtube

Question

I have an application using the v3 YouTube API that lets the use browse videos via the guide API, drilling down from guide categories to channels to videos.
I would like to provide localised results, but get English text in places where I would expect local descriptions. I realise that I can't expect channels belonging to users to be localised, but some of the results appear to be automatically generated channels that would appear translated on the web.
I can get easily get a list of guide categories in e.g. Spanish with a call to youtube.guideCategories.list(part=snippet, hl=es-ES, regionCode=ES):
{
"kind": "youtube#guideCategoryListResponse",
"etag": "\"MmqJLb8ZBOWRQIsg7xej7lrKLMI/RxpLDjICTxI6pEJgKxa1GihOABg\"",
"items": [
{
"kind": "youtube#guideCategory",
"etag": "\"MmqJLb8ZBOWRQIsg7xej7lrKLMI/fnL4T7wf3HKS8VCeb2Mui5q9zeM\"",
"id": "GCQmVzdCBvZiBZb3VUdWJl",
"snippet": {
"channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
"title": "Best of YouTube"
}
},
...
{
"kind": "youtube#guideCategory",
"etag": "\"MmqJLb8ZBOWRQIsg7xej7lrKLMI/a2ukJS2cvl7NN20p8C2B9uYePoM\"",
"id": "GCTXVzaWM",
"snippet": {
"channelId": "UCBR8-60-B28hp2BmDPdntcQ",
"title": "Música"
}
},
...
}
}
Apart from a few results like "Best of YouTube", this returns localised guide category titles as I'd expect. The problem comes when I want to drill down into one of these categories.
For example, if I want to get channels in the "Best of YouTube" category, I make a call to youtube.channels.list(part=snippet, categoryId=GCQmVzdCBvZiBZb3VUdWJl):
{
"kind": "youtube#channelListResponse",
"etag": "\"MmqJLb8ZBOWRQIsg7xej7lrKLMI/o8HbT_CvdwGx45Gqb3VT3jnxz8Y\"",
"nextPageToken": "CAUQAA",
"pageInfo": {
"totalResults": 9,
"resultsPerPage": 5
},
"items": [
{
"kind": "youtube#channel",
"etag": "\"MmqJLb8ZBOWRQIsg7xej7lrKLMI/3COvNpjUozOrHwTDRG2SKLHlbDs\"",
"id": "UCEgdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw",
"snippet": {
"title": "Sports",
"description": "Sport is all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, ....\nThis channel was generated automatically by YouTube's video discovery system.",
"publishedAt": "2013-12-15T20:39:04.000Z",
"thumbnails": {
"default": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/1.jpg"
},
"medium": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/mq1.jpg"
},
"high": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/hq1.jpg"
}
}
}
},
...
}
}
As you can see, this automatically generated channel comes back with an English language title and description. This API isn't documented to take an hl parameter to set the desired language, and doesn't behave any differently if I call it with that parameter anyway. I also tried setting the Accept-Language HTTP request header without any luck.
If I browse to this particular automatically generated channel on the YouTube website at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEgdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw and change the website language to Spanish I see the localised title "Deportes" and corresponding description, so is there some way to get this same information via the API?

Answer 1

Internationalization in the Data API v3 is something YT started supporting recently, and it's limited now. But there is a work going on to bring this support to the all functionalities in the API really soon.

Answer 2

Since I posted the question, it looks like the YouTube channels.list call has gained an hl parameter, making it possible to retrieve localised results.
So for example, I can retrieve the Spanish localised version of the "Best of YouTube" category with a call to youtube.channels.list(part=snippet, categoryId=GCQmVzdCBvZiBZb3VUdWJl, hl=es-ES):
{
"kind": "youtube#channelListResponse",
"etag": "\"0KG1mRN7bm3nResDPKHQZpg5-do/5ZMIP3f0vZw8CYq69TcuOdye2ZQ\"",
"nextPageToken": "CAUQAA",
"pageInfo": {
"totalResults": 10,
"resultsPerPage": 5
},
"items": [
...
{
"kind": "youtube#channel",
"etag": "\"0KG1mRN7bm3nResDPKHQZpg5-do/kLIkkfyIIZLFzhOb7gB4CIPzKJQ\"",
"id": "UCEgdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw",
"snippet": {
"title": "#Sports",
"description": "Sport or sports are all forms of usually competitive physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical ability and skills while providing entertainment to participants, and in some cases, spectators. Usually the contest or game is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a tie game; others provide tie-breaking methods, to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of such two-sided contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, each against all w...\nThis channel was generated automatically by YouTube's video discovery system.",
"publishedAt": "2013-12-15T20:39:04.000Z",
"thumbnails": {
"default": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/1.jpg"
},
"medium": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/mq1.jpg"
},
"high": {
"url": "https://i.ytimg.com/i/Egdi0XIXXZ-qJOFPf4JSKw/hq1.jpg"
}
},
"localized": {
"title": "#Deportes",
"description": "El deporte es una actividad física reglamentada, normalmente de carácter competitivo, que puede mejorar la condición física y ocasionalmente psíquica de quien lo practica, y tiene propiedades que lo diferencian del juego.\nLa RAE, en su Diccionario de la lengua española, define deporte como una «actividad física, ejercida como juego o competición, cuya práctica supone entrenamiento y sujeción a normas»; también, en una segunda acepción, más amplia, como «recreación, pasatiempo, placer, diversión o ejercicio físico, por lo común al aire libre». Por otra parte, la Carta Europea del deporte lo define como: «Todas las formas de actividades físicas que mediante una participación organizada o no, tienen como objetivo la expresión o la mejora de la condición física y psíquica, el desarrollo de las relaciones sociales o la obtención de resultados en competición de todos los niveles».\nInstitucionalmente, para...\nEl sistema de detección de vídeos de YouTube ha generado este canal automáticamente."
}
}
},
...
}
}
The localised title and description appear under a new localized attribute on the channel object.