M-4

A private tool for planning YouTube content and measuring what actually happened.

What this application does

M-4 helps its operator decide what to make for their YouTube channel, and then checks whether those decisions were any good. Before a video is published, M-4 records what it expected that video to do. After publishing, it reads the channel's own performance data and compares the result against that earlier prediction.

The point of the tool is the comparison. Keeping a written record made before the outcome is known is what makes the measurement honest.

Who uses it

M-4 is a private, single-operator application. It is not open for public sign-up and has no external users. It is operated by its owner to plan and measure their own YouTube channel, and it connects to exactly one Google Account — the owner's own.

What it does with Google data

M-4 requests read-only access to the operator's own YouTube channel. It does not upload, publish, schedule, edit, or delete anything on YouTube. When M-4 finishes planning a video it produces a package of notes the operator copies across by hand; the operator publishes manually.

youtube.readonly Reads the operator's own channel and video list, so a published video can be matched back to the prediction recorded for it before publishing.
yt-analytics.readonly Reads the operator's own channel analytics — views, click-through rate and audience retention — measured at consistent video ages so videos can be compared like for like. This is the measurement the application exists to perform.

Each scope is requested because a specific function above cannot be performed without it. M-4 requests no write, upload, or publishing access of any kind.

Privacy

How M-4 accesses, uses, stores and shares Google user data — including its affirmative compliance with the Google API Services User Data Policy's Limited Use requirements — is described in full in the Privacy Policy.