How to find similar YouTube channels from one the client already likes
Part of Lookalike websites
The short answer
To find similar YouTube channels, describe what the seed channel's recent videos actually teach or show, then look for channels whose recent uploads mean the same thing, using topic categories, featured channels and the creator's own audience reports as leads. Check every match for originality, made for kids status and language before it joins the plan.
Key takeaways
- YouTube's Data API stopped supporting related video search on August 7, 2023, so there is no official endpoint that returns channels like a given one.
- Topic categories are coarse Wikipedia links; they narrow the field but cannot rank channels on their own.
- One audience signal belongs to the creator: the Channels your audience watches report covers the past 28 days.
- Channels that match a seed closely because they copy it are a trap, and YouTube's reused content policy describes what to look for.
- Start from one to three seed channels, each with a written reason, and search each reason separately.
How do you find YouTube channels similar to one you like?
Begin with the seed's videos, not its name. Open the ten most recent long form uploads and write one sentence for each: what the viewer learns or watches, at what depth and in what format. A woodworking channel might produce "a hand plane tune up for a beginner, filmed at the bench with no music". That set of sentences is the seed profile, and every candidate is measured against it.
There is no shortcut through the platform. The YouTube Data API once let developers search for videos related to a given video, but its revision history (opens in a new tab) records that the relatedToVideoId parameter of search.list was deprecated on June 12, 2023 and that YouTube stopped supporting it as of August 7, 2023. Expansion is now research: several leads, each checked against the seed profile.
Six steps from one seed channel to a set of similar channels
- Write the seed profile. One sentence per recent upload, then a two line summary of what the channel is for.
- Read the seed's own pointers. Open its featured channels shelf, its collaborations and the channels it credits in video descriptions.
- Search by video meaning. Turn each profile sentence into a plain search and note which channels publish videos that would answer it.
- Compare topic categories. Keep candidates whose topic categories overlap the seed's, and treat no overlap as a reason to look again, not to reject.
- Score recent uploads. For each candidate, mark how many of its last ten uploads could swap places with a seed video without the client noticing.
- Screen before shortlisting. Run the originality, made for kids and language checks below on every candidate that scores well.
Which channel signals show real similarity?
Some signals are public and some belong to the creator. The public ones come from the YouTube Data API channels resource (opens in a new tab): topicDetails.topicCategories is a list of Wikipedia URLs that describe the channel's content, and brandingSettings.channel.keywords holds keywords the owner associated with the channel. The channelSections resource (opens in a new tab) shows which other channel IDs a channel features in a multipleChannels section, which is the creator saying, in public, whose work it rates.
| Signal | Where it comes from | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Video meaning | Titles, descriptions and what the recent uploads actually show | Closest to what the client values; works across channels of any size | Slow to read by hand; titles can promise more than the video delivers |
| Topic categories | topicDetails.topicCategories, a list of Wikipedia URLs | Public, consistent and easy to compare in bulk | Coarse: a hobby or lifestyle link covers thousands of unrelated channels |
| Owner keywords | brandingSettings.channel.keywords | Shows how the creator describes the channel | Self declared, can be stale, and capped at 500 characters in total |
| Featured channels | multipleChannels sections in channelSections | Shows which peers a creator chooses to feature in public | Also features friends, sponsors and the creator's own side channels |
| Audience overlap | The creator's Channels your audience watches report | The only signal about viewers rather than content | Private to the creator; a buyer sees it only if the creator shares it |
How do you avoid re-upload channels that copy a seed?
A channel that copies a good seed can look very similar on content signals, because it is showing the same videos. That is why similarity search needs an originality check built in. YouTube's channel monetization policies (opens in a new tab) describe reused content as channels that repurpose content already on YouTube or another online source. Its examples of what is not allowed include short videos compiled from other social media websites and content uploaded many times by other creators, while critical reviews and reaction videos with real commentary are allowed.
The same page covers inauthentic content. On July 15, 2025 YouTube renamed its repetitious content policy to inauthentic content, clarifying that it covers repetitive or mass produced content, including material that looks like it was made from a template. For a buyer, both policies point to the same practical question: would a viewer see a meaningful difference between this channel and the seed?
Signs a close match is copying rather than resembling the seed
- Video thumbnails or opening shots match the seed's footage frame for frame.
- The channel is much newer than the seed but has uploaded a similar number of videos in weeks.
- Titles follow one template with only a number or keyword changed.
- The voice track is synthetic or absent, and the description credits no maker or shop.
- Searching a distinctive phrase from a seed video turns up the same narration on this channel.
- Comments mention that the video was taken from another creator.
One sign alone calls for a closer look, not a verdict. Compilation channels sometimes hold a license, and a teacher may reuse a strong intro across a series. The inauthentic content policy guide covers how to weigh borderline evidence.
How many seed channels should you start from?
One to three. A single well chosen seed with a clear profile gives a focused search. Two or three help when the client likes different things about different channels, for example one for technique and one for project builds. Beyond three, the profile blurs, and the search drifts toward general channels that touch every seed a little and none of them well.
When the seeds differ in subject, search each one separately and label every candidate with the seed it matched. A merged search returns channels that sit halfway between the seeds. Keeping the searches apart also lets the client approve a technique group and a projects group on their own merits.
What checks should a similar channel pass before the plan?
Similarity says nothing about whether a channel can carry the client's ads. Each candidate needs the same suitability review as any other channel, plus checks that matter for expansion, because expansion can surface channels in bulk that are then reviewed quickly.
| Check | What to look at | Why it matters in expansion |
|---|---|---|
| Made for kids | status.madeForKids on the channel and the label on recent videos | On content set as made for kids, YouTube prohibits personalized ads, remarketing and other personalized targeting, and bars some ad categories |
| Language | The language spoken in recent uploads, not only the title | A seed in English can surface translated titles over videos in another language |
| Recent activity | Upload dates for the last ten videos | A strong match that stopped uploading a year ago adds little to a flight |
| Originality | The re-upload signs above | Copies can match the seed closely, so they can rise to the top |
| Owner | The creator or company behind the channel and its sister channels | One creator running several channels counts as one decision |
YouTube's made for kids rules are set out in its help page on made for kids content (opens in a new tab). Contextual ads are still allowed there, so the decision to exclude these channels belongs to the client's brief, and the plan should state it. After launch, Google's placement targeting (opens in a new tab) documentation describes placements as locations where ads can appear on YouTube or the Display Network, so the approved channels go into the campaign as channel placements.
What does channel expansion look like on a real brief?
Fictional example
A hand tool maker expands from one woodworking channel in Pennsylvania and New York
An unnamed fictional maker of hand planes and chisels sells to hobby woodworkers in Pennsylvania and New York. Its favorite YouTube channel is a furniture maker who films slow, narrated bench work. The planner writes ten sentences from recent uploads, such as "flattening a chisel back on stones, explained for a first time user", and a summary: patient hand tool technique, English, no power tool reviews.
Leads come from three places. The seed's featured channels shelf lists four peers. Searches built from the sentences surface eleven more channels. The client already sponsors the seed, so the creator shares a screenshot of the Channels your audience watches report, which names two timber framing channels nobody had considered.
Screening removes a channel whose videos reuse the seed's footage under new titles, and another that last uploaded fourteen months ago. A popular general workshop channel matches only two of ten recent uploads and goes to the adjacent group. Two channels run by one woodworker are reviewed as one decision. The client approves a core group of seven channels and an adjacent group of three, each with the seed sentence it matched.
How does PlacementGraph find channels like one the client likes?
Frequently asked questions
Does a channel that collaborates with the seed count as similar?
Not by itself. Creators can collaborate across subjects. Treat a collaboration as a lead, open the partner channel's own recent uploads, and score them against the seed profile like any other candidate. Only the partner's own videos show what the channel actually publishes.
Can subscriber count be used to rank similar channels?
Use it as information, not as the ranking. A small channel can match the seed more closely than a large one, and subscriber counts can be hidden: the Data API's hiddenSubscriberCount field says whether the count is public. Rank on how many recent uploads match, then show size so the client can balance reach.
What if the seed channel is in a different language from the campaign?
Write the seed profile in the campaign's language and search in that language. The subject and teaching style travel even when the words do not. Then confirm the spoken language of each candidate's recent uploads, since a title can be translated while the audio is not.
Should the seed channel itself go on the plan?
Yes, if it passes the same checks and the client wants it there. Some clients prefer to sponsor the seed directly and use the placement plan only for the similar channels. Ask, and record the answer, so the seed does not end up bought twice through two routes.
Sources
- YouTube Data API revision history (opens in a new tab)Google for Developers
- Channels resource (opens in a new tab)YouTube Data API, Google for Developers
- ChannelSections resource (opens in a new tab)YouTube Data API, Google for Developers
- Understand your YouTube audience (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- YouTube channel monetization policies (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- How ads work on YouTube for supervised accounts and content set as made for kids (opens in a new tab)YouTube Help
- About placement targeting (opens in a new tab)Google Ads Help
Researched and written by PlacementGraph Research. Read how we research, source and update these pages. Corrections: diana@placementgraph.com.