Add Support for YouTube Channels Owned by a Google+ Page

[leoherzog]

Make sure you are using the latest version: run youtube-dl --version and ensure your version is 2016.09.15. If it's not read this FAQ entry and update. Issues with outdated version will be rejected.

• I've verified and I assure that I'm running youtube-dl 2016.09.15

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• Searched the bugtracker for similar issues including closed ones

What is the purpose of your issue?

• Bug report (encountered problems with youtube-dl)
• Site support request (request for adding support for a new site)
• Feature request (request for a new functionality)
• Question
• Other

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The issue

YouTube videos can not only be owned by users, but by Google+ pages as well. Please add support for authenticating as a Google+ Page, so that we can download our private YouTube videos from these channels.

Thanks!

[yan12125]

Could you give an example URL?

[leoherzog]

Well, this would be an enhancement to the authentication system, not URL parsing. Users associated with a Google+ page are the same as users who made a regular account, so videos uploaded to YouTube from each look the same from the outside. Thus, I can't really give you an "example URL".

To re-create this problem:

1. Create a new Google+ Business Page
2. Go to your channel switcher and create a new YouTube channel associated with that brand's business page (under "Brand Accounts")
3. (optional) Upload a new private video
4. Try to authenticate as this brand page with youtube-dl (optionally, test on the private video from step 3)

Google+ Brand Account users are valid YouTube users without a classic Gmail address that they can enter into youtube-dl -u.

[dstftw]

What do you mean by

authenticate as this brand page

There are no credentials for that apart from google account itself that works fine.
Users added via "Manage permissions" are not allowed to watch private videos thus not able to download.

[leoherzog]

Every time I click "Sign in" on youtube.com, this box pops up

I can choose a Brand Account and manage YouTube as that user.

In youtube-dl, I would like to download a private video from one of those Brand Accounts. There isn't a way to choose which accounts within one Gmail address you would like to act as when authenticating with youtube-dl. Please read this YouTube blog post from 2013 for more information on how this should be implemented:

With Google+ page identities, there can be many channels associated with a single Google Account.

[leoherzog]

Is more clarification needed?

[Hrxn]

AFAIK, all these brand accounts are tied to a specific Google account, and they don't have any credentials you could use on their own. You could think of some form of sub-accounts.
YouTube uses them, but this is basically just a changed UI for the site, as well as changed access and rights management. It might be possible to access them externally, say from youtube-dl, but currently I think it works via YT web only..

[tree68505]

Found that having the "Don't ask me again" set with the selected account being the brand account, the program logs in and pulls the "watch later" playlist from the brand account. At least this was the case until a few months ago. Now the program defaults to the gmail account despite anything I've tried.

[leoherzog]

Still looking for a way to download Private videos from my Brand Account's YouTube Channel.

[RyanRosario]

This would be really useful. In my case, I want to download my "Watch Later" but when I use my Google Gmail login, it defaults to my personal account that's tied to my Gmail, whereas the only YouTube account I use is this secondary brand account (it's actually a legacy account that was created way before the Google/YouTube merger occurred). There is no way to login to it directly. I must login to my personal YouTube using my Gmail, and then "Switch Accounts" to get into the other one. There must be some information that can be passed with the cookies at login to switch the account.

[kjp111]

Select your account icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Select settings.
In overview (the settings landing page) select advanced to the right of the account avatar/icon.
Scan the options for setting the account as the default account.
This will cause the account to be default upon logging in, and the watch later playlist for this account
will come up with the https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=WL URL.
Youtube-dl will download this watch later playlist.

To reset another account as default, follow the same steps within that account.