YouTube channel not showing when you connect

You select YouTube, sign in to Google, and the only channel you can pick is your own personal channel. The channel you manage for the business isn’t there.

Why it happens

When you connect YouTube, Google only lets KnowYourMarket.ai read channels your Google login owns, or channels on a Brand Account you’ve been made an Owner or Manager of.

Being added to a channel in YouTube Studio > Settings > Permissions is not the same thing. That gives you access inside YouTube Studio, but Google doesn’t let other apps read the channel through it. So the channel never appears in KnowYourMarket.ai, however many times you try.

Before you change anything, check which of these applies:

• The channel sits directly on the business’s own Google login, for example a Gmail address the business owns. There’s no Brand Account, so you can’t be added to one.
• The channel is on a Brand Account, but you were only added through YouTube Studio’s Permissions screen.

Fix 1: Connect once using the channel owner’s login

This is the quickest fix and it changes nothing on the channel.

1. Go to Marketing Feed > your brand > Setup tab > Channels.
2. Under Add a channel > Google, select YouTube.
3. On Google’s account screen, choose Use another account.
4. Sign in with the Google login that owns the channel. If that login uses two-step verification, the channel owner needs to give you the code.
5. Tick both YouTube boxes on the Google screen and approve access.
6. Back in KnowYourMarket.ai, choose the channel and select Connect.

The connection keeps working after you sign out of that Google login.

Tip

If the channel owner would rather not share their password, they can do these steps themselves on a short screen share while signed in to your KnowYourMarket.ai workspace, or you can invite them to your workspace so they can connect it from their own KnowYourMarket.ai login.

Fix 2: Get added to the Brand Account

Use this if the channel is already on a Brand Account.

1. The channel owner goes to myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts and opens the channel’s Brand Account.
2. They select Manage permissions and add your Google login as a Manager (or Owner).
3. You accept the invitation in your email.
4. In KnowYourMarket.ai, go to Setup tab > Channels > Add a channel > Google > YouTube and sign in with your own login.
5. Google shows the account chooser. Pick the business’s channel, approve access, then select Connect in KnowYourMarket.ai.

Brand Account access can take a little while to come through after it’s granted. If the channel isn’t listed straight away, try again later.

Fix 3: Upload YouTube Studio exports instead

If the owner can’t sign in for you and doesn’t want to move the channel, you don’t need a connection at all. Export the month from YouTube Studio’s Analytics and upload it to the brand each month. Anyone who can see the channel’s Analytics in YouTube Studio can do this, including people added through the Permissions screen.

This option has to be switched on for your workspace first, so contact support and ask us to turn on export uploads. Then follow Upload YouTube Studio exports.

Moving a channel into a Brand Account

A channel that sits on a personal or business Gmail login can be moved into a Brand Account, so the business can then add managers in the normal way. Only the channel owner can do it, and it changes their main channel for good, so treat it as a last resort. Fix 1 and Fix 3 are lower risk.

If the owner still wants to do it:

1. In YouTube Studio > Settings > Permissions, remove everyone who was added there and turn channel permissions off. Google won’t allow the move while they’re on.
2. Create a new channel from the channel list. This makes a new, empty Brand Account channel.
3. In YouTube Settings > Advanced settings, select Move channel, pick the new Brand Account, then choose to replace it. The empty placeholder channel is deleted and the real channel’s videos and playlists move across.
4. Add managers at myaccount.google.com/brandaccounts, as in Fix 2.

Caution

Google says watch history, search history and Creator Demographics data are lost when a channel is moved. It doesn’t say what happens to the subscriber count or the handle. The move can affect other things linked to that Google login, so the owner should read Google’s guide before starting: Move your YouTube channel from one Brand Account to another.

Still not working?

• “YouTube access was not granted.” You left a box unticked on Google’s screen. Connect again and tick both YouTube boxes.
• “That Google account owns no YouTube channel we can read.” The login you used doesn’t own or manage the channel through a Brand Account. Use Fix 1, Fix 2 or Fix 3.

If none of this helps, contact support.