Because retro is in -- announcing historical data in the YouTube Reporting API

YouTube creators rely on data -- data about how their channel is performing, data about their video’s ratings, their earnings. Lots of data. That’s why we launched the YouTube Reporting API back in October, which helps you bulk up your data requests while keeping them on a low-quota diet.

Reports made with the API started from the day you scheduled them, going forward. Now that it’s been in the wild, we’ve heard another request loud and clear: you don’t just want current data, you want older data, too. We’re happy to announce that the Reporting API now delivers historical data covering 180 days prior to when the reporting job is first scheduled (or July 1st, 2015, whichever is later.)

Developers with a keen eye may have already noticed this, as it launched a few weeks ago! Just in case you didn’t, you can find more information on how historical data works by checking out the Historical Data section of the Reporting API docs.

(Hint: if you’ve already got some jobs scheduled, you don’t need to do anything! We’ll generate the data automatically.)

New to the Reporting API? Tantalized by the possibility of all that historical data? Our documentation explains everything you need to know about scheduling jobs and the types of reports available. Try it out with our API Explorer, then dive into the sample code or write your own with one of our client libraries.

Happy reporting,

YouTube Developer Relations on behalf of Alvin Cham, Markus Lanthaler, Matteo Agosti, and Andy Diamondstein