Youtube Data API v3: commentThread call doesn't give replies for some comment threads

Question

I have a problem with commentThread API call. Here is one specific case: comment id: z13ocxipdz3hwxqqe04cgbuadtmnhhmybyc0k

https://www.googleapis.com/youtube/v3/comm

Answer 1

While I wasn't able to answer your questions definitely, I was able to find some useful info that may give you some clarity and direction.

With regard to the specific case outlined in your question: the user "authorDisplayName": "Tammy L." commented on the video "videoId": "Ui-ulCWmpOU" on 11/16/2013, and received replies between 11/16/2013 and 11/18/2013. According to Tammy L.'s record on Google+, there are 44 replies to her initial comment from this date:

Although, according to the record on YouTube, it appears that there are 42 replies to her comment, which doesn't match either value returned from your API calls. Even more bizarre, Google won't display the comments when I click on "View all 42 replies":

It seems that the commentId call provides the correct number of replies made to Tammy L.'s initial comment, which is consistent with the number of replies shown on her Google+ account. Perhaps the issues with the videoId call (including the fact that this call doesn't provide replies) are attributable to the changes Google implemented around the time that Tammy L. made her initial comment (November 2013), although I'm not totally sure.