YouTube RSS feed endpoint returns 404 errors

Google AI Studio
1

Hi everyone,

I’ve been experiencing intermittent 404 errors when fetching YouTube channel RSS feeds over the past week. The issue seems to follow a specific pattern.

Problem: YouTube RSS feed endpoint returns 404 errors for channels that are clearly active and have public videos.

Endpoint:

https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id={CHANNEL_ID}

Error Response:

404 - The requested URL /feeds/videos.xml?channel_id={CHANNEL_ID} was not found on this server.

Pattern Observed:

  • Errors occur primarily between 09:00 - 12:00 UTC

  • Same channels work fine outside this time window

  • No changes made to implementation

  • Started approximately one week ago

What I’ve Verified:

  • Channels are active and public

  • Same URLs work in browser during error periods

  • No authentication issues (RSS feeds are public)

  • Different channels randomly affected each time

Questions:

  1. Is there a known rate limit for YouTube RSS feeds?

  2. Are there any changes or deprecation plans for this endpoint?

Any insights would be appreciated. Thank you!

1 Like
2

Got the exact same issue!

Example:

RSS-Feed: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=UCQxux0Tuz8srG6sE-dujDHw
Feed HTTP/Fetch fail (try 1/3): code=404 err=

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=en>
  <meta charset=utf-8>
  <meta name=viewport content="initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, width=device-width">
  <title>Error 404 (Not Found)!!1</title>
  <style>
    *{ma

Feed HTTP/Fetch fail (try 2/3): code=404 err=

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=en>
  <meta charset=utf-8>
  <meta name=viewport content="initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, width=device-width">
  <title>Error 404 (Not Found)!!1</title>
  <style>
    *{ma

Feed HTTP/Fetch fail (try 3/3): code=404 err=

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang=en>
  <meta charset=utf-8>
  <meta name=viewport content="initial-scale=1, minimum-scale=1, width=device-width">
  <title>Error 404 (Not Found)!!1</title>
  <style>
    *{ma
3

Bildschirmfoto 2025-12-28 um 07.49.31
Bildschirmfoto 2025-12-28 um 07.49.311668×956 108 KB

This seem to be a major issue! Engineers need to investigate urgent on priority!

4

Now, the issue has been resolved, and it is working as expected. You can try clearing the cache or try on another browser if you still experience issues.

5

Actually with the user agent parameters it happened again in the morning during 9-12 time period. It’s working now but between 9-12 it returns 404.

How do you know the issue has been resolved @innovatix ? Can you share any detailed information or your test setup?

Thanks.

7

Hi @Goktug_Yurt , and everyone . The time is 6:18 UTC, but now also endpoint is returning 404 error. Is there any cheap or free api alternatives for this ??

9

the solution is to use YouTube Data API. But the API’s daily limit is very low. So I submitted for a daily limit increase and waiting for Google Team’s approval (or disapproval). @Nanta_gopal_C

There is also PubSubHubbub but I don’t know if it works for my system.

By the way I am not getting 404 for the last two days. =/