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There’s thing much frustrating than coming crossed articles containing YouTube videos that person been removed for immoderate reason. It’s highly frustrating for users and tin easy elude tract owners (especially connected large-scale sites). And from an SEO perspective, addressing unavailable videos tin debar UX barriers and unhappy users. So articulation maine arsenic we spell hunting for pages containing YouTube videos that ne'er play.
When covering large algorithm updates, and particularly wide halfway updates, I person explained galore times the value of gathering oregon exceeding idiosyncratic expectations. I’ve besides explained that Google has an uncanny quality to recognize erstwhile users are not happy, which implicit clip could pb to interaction from large algorithm updates (like wide halfway updates)… And present that we cognize astir Navboost, and however Google leverages idiosyncratic enactment signals to interaction rankings, we recognize however Google tin larn if contented is gathering idiosyncratic expectations.
So erstwhile auditing sites, I’m connected the lookout for situations wherever users tin get frustrated, not get what they request based connected query, etc. As an example, there’s thing worse than visiting a leafage to larn astir a topic, trying to ticker video supporting the content, and the video has been removed oregon marked private. That’s a immense UX obstruction successful my sentiment and thing I person recovered often during audits erstwhile helping companies impacted by large algorithm updates (and particularly wide halfway updates). If the video was highly important for the page, past however could that contented conscionable oregon transcend idiosyncratic expectations? And what benignant of content are you leaving erstwhile determination are breached media elements connected your pages?
Maybe the tract proprietor oregon writer erstwhile had a large video to stock that supported the content, but the YouTube video was removed for immoderate reason. For example, possibly the idiosyncratic publishing that video violated a YouTube argumentation oregon they could person marked it arsenic private. We person each seen the dreaded “This video is unavailable” connection erstwhile trying to ticker an embedded YouTube video and it’s ne'er a bully feeling…
Hunting Broken YouTube Videos:
OK, truthful we cognize there’s a large idiosyncratic acquisition contented erstwhile radical travel crossed embedded YouTube videos that person been removed for immoderate reason, but however bash we spell astir uncovering those videos? Well, that’s the problem. There hasn’t been a large mode to aboveground those videos historically. And that’s particularly the lawsuit connected large-scale sites with tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, oregon adjacent millions of urls. You truly can’t spell url by url trying to find those issues…
So again, determination was ne'er a large solution for surfacing those YouTube videos that were removed. Until now. :)
Sending A ‘Frog Signal’ For Help!
As I was auditing yet different large-scale tract with this problem, I decided to telephone successful the large guns. I changeable an email to Dan Sharp from Screaming Frog. It was similar sending a bat signal, but greenish and with a frog. :) It didn’t instrumentality agelong for Dan to get backmost to maine explaining helium was looking into it. And past not agelong after, boom, helium sent an email explaining however to tackle the situation.
Dan explained that you could crawl a tract adding YouTube arsenic a CDN (so it’s treated internally), usage customized hunt looking for mistake messages that get displayed erstwhile a video has been removed, marque definite .js files tin beryllium crawled, and you could aboveground those videos that were removed.
I was excited to effort it out… truthful I fired up Screaming Frog, utilized the configuration that Dan explained, and crawled a tiny tract that had YouTube videos that had been removed.
And I saw this:
Amazing! The video occupation plaguing Gotham would soon beryllium resolved! OK, capable with the Batman references.
Now, this was great, but the attack required you crawl an full site. What if I wanted to crawl a acceptable of urls looking for this problem? That would beryllium unthinkable since you could export apical urls from GSC and past crawl them (since if you work 1 of my caller posts, you cognize that highly disposable AND lower-quality is simply a astir unsafe SEO combination). Maybe you conscionable privation to crawl the astir disposable urls that dropped during a caller algorithm update
I emailed Dan astir this, and helium erstwhile again came up with a large solution. For the updated configuration, you request to adhd the urls you privation to crawl to the Include tab, including youtube.com and .js files.
Then you request to spot Screaming Frog successful List Mode and crawl away. After the crawl is completed, you tin cheque the Custom Search tab to presumption the urls being returned that conscionable the criteria. For example, YouTube videos that were either marked arsenic backstage oregon are unavailable.
Let’s tally done a speedy illustration for checking a circumstantial acceptable of urls. Maybe these were the apical urls that dropped during a large algorithm update (hint-hint).
Step-by-step: How To Surface YouTube Videos That Are Unavailable Or Marked As Private Based On A Specific List Of URLs
1. Fire up Screaming Frog and participate List Mode.
2. Add YouTube arsenic a CDN.
Click the configuration paper and past CDNs. Add https://www.youtube.com/embed/ successful the list. Those urls volition present beryllium considered interior urls during the crawl.
3. Click the Configuration paper and past Include. We privation to adhd the urls that should beryllium checked. For a test, possibly conscionable participate 10 of those urls. Tip, you tin premix successful urls that don’t person video problems conscionable to marque definite each is moving ok.
4. Make definite youtube.com and \.js are successful the Include list! We privation to crawl YouTube.com similar it was a CDN (internal) and past we privation to crawl JavaScript files.
5. Add your Custom Search filters.
Click Configuration, Custom, and past Custom Search. Click the +Add fastener successful the bottommost close corner. Enter a statement for the archetypal filter (like “Video unavailable”). And past Contains, Text, and participate “Video unavailable”, and prime Page Text from the last driblet down. Complete this for “The video is private” arsenic well. You volition extremity up with 2 customized hunt filters. Click OK to finish.
6. Upload Your List of URLs.
This is the aforesaid database you added to the Include tab. You do not request to see youtube.com and \.js successful this list. It should conscionable beryllium the database of urls you privation to cheque from the tract you are auditing. Click Upload successful the apical menu, and past prime the mode you privation to participate the urls (paste, manually, via a file, etc.)
7. Crawl Away!
Click “Start” and tally your crawl. Grab your beverage of prime arsenic you hold for Screaming Frog to bash the dense lifting.
8. Check the Custom Search results.
Click the Custom Search tab and past usage the dropdown paper to prime 1 of the reasons the videos didn’t resolve. If you click 1 of the YouTube videos successful the database and cheque the Inlinks tab, you tin spot the url wherever it was embedded.
9. Export by YouTube issue.
You tin besides export each of the urls surfaced by clicking the Bulk Export menu, Custom Search, and past by customized hunt filter.
That’s it! Now you person a solution for surfacing those dreaded YouTube embeds that are unavailable oregon marked arsenic private.
How Google Could Help: Provide Better Video Indexing Reporting successful GSC.
Some of you mightiness beryllium wondering wherefore GSC doesn’t aboveground those urls with videos that person been removed. It does person an mistake class labeled, “Video not recovered connected big service”. That would beryllium a coagulated study for surfacing each of those videos that won’t resolve… but it doesn’t. If Google could simply database each videos that aren’t disposable connected the root work (even beyond YouTube), that would beryllium incredible. I’ll ping Google astir this to spot if thing similar that is possible.
Final tips and recommendations for tract owners looking to aboveground YouTube videos that are unavailable oregon marked arsenic private:
- You tin crawl an full tract hunting YouTube videos that person been removed, but crawling a acceptable of urls mightiness beryllium a amended solution for larger-scale sites. For example, exporting urls via the GSC API based connected immoderate criteria and past moving those done the process I documented successful this post.
- Don’t hide to adhd youtube.com and \.js to the Include tab. That’s indispensable successful bid for this to enactment properly.
- You tin adhd different YouTube errors to drawback via Custom Search if you want. If you announcement different messages connected your tract beyond what I listed successful this post, conscionable adhd different customized hunt filter.
- Watch the fig of urls you are crawling per second. I would commencement little and ticker for immoderate issues. Then set arsenic necessary.
- Remember that you tin export the results by custom hunt filter, which tin beryllium highly useful for sending to clients oregon different members of your team.
Improving the idiosyncratic acquisition by hunting down YouTube videos that ne'er play:
I anticipation you tin utilize this solution to assistance your institution oregon clients aboveground YouTube videos that are unavailable oregon marked arsenic private. Again, there’s thing much annoying oregon frustrating than coming crossed articles with embedded YouTube videos that don’t play. And since we cognize Google is leveraging idiosyncratic enactment signals for rankings, I would ever marque definite you tin conscionable oregon transcend idiosyncratic expectations based connected query. Finding those videos is decidedly 1 measurement successful the close direction.
Now spell hunt immoderate unavailable YouTube videos. :)
GG
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