Google Youtube Analytics API: 403 forbidden error despite valid token

Question

So, I have a valid OAuth token for a channel. When the token expires, it is automatically refreshed. This token works for requests to gdata.youtube.com, but for some reason is denied to www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports.

The scope used to get the token is https://gdata.youtube.com https://www.googleapis.com/auth/yt-analytics.readonly https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtubepartner

This works for other channels but not the one in particular.

GET www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports
  PARAMS
    ?metrics=views
    &ids=channel==...
    &start-date=...
    &end-date=...
  HEADER
    Authorization: Bearer ...
  RESPONSE
    {
      "error": {
        "errors": [
          {
            "domain": "global",
            "reason": "forbidden",
            "message": "Forbidden"
          }
        ],
        "code": 403,
        "message": "Forbidden"
      }
    }

Edit: it should be noted that when you call www.googleapis.com/youtube/analytics/v1/reports with insufficient scope, you get this error:

{domain:global, reason:insufficientPermissions, message:Insufficient Permission}

This is a completely different error from the 403 forbidden one.

Answer 1

You probably need to enable YouTube Analytics for your project. Go the the APIs console: https://code.google.com/apis/console, select your project, then click on the services tab, search for YouTube Analytics, and enable it, after reading and accepting the ToS. Remember to validate that the free quota is sufficient for your uses or request additional quota.

Answer 2

We came across the same permissions error. Unless the user is apart of the Youtube Partner Program, you'll be unable to retrieve the content owner reports:

https://developers.google.com/youtube/analytics/v1/content_owner_reports

"Note: Content owner reports are only accessible to YouTube content partners who participate in the YouTube Partner Program."

But you can still retrieve the Channel Reports for regular users:

https://developers.google.com/youtube/analytics/v1/channel_reports