[Journal] Analyzing YouTube Videos? Forget GPT. Here’s Why Gemini Is the Only Answer.

While conducting micro-tests on applying AI tools to my professional workflow, I’ve found that for certain tasks, there is an undisputed 'right answer'.

The task of analyzing YouTube videos is a perfect example.

YouTube

To put it bluntly, if you want to properly analyze YouTube videos, you have only one option: Using the Gemini 2.5 Pro model on Google AI Studio’s workbench. 

This isn't just a recommendation; it's the only method that overwhelmingly surpasses all other alternatives in both workflow efficiency and analytical depth.

Before we dive deeper, it's worth taking a moment to clarify Google's AI portfolio,

which many, including myself, have found confusing.

Demystifying Google’s AI Portfolio: A Glossary for Creators

The best way I can explain Google's AI portfolio is by comparing it to a 'video production set.'

• Google AI Studio (The Pre-Production Office): This is the main hub where the PD (Gemini) analyzes references, conducts market research, and refines ideas. It's the core base for the pre-production phase.

• Gemini (The Executive Producer / Main Director): The core brain that understands the project's context and sets the strategy.

• Veo & Imagen (The Director of Photography & VFX Team): The execution team that 'shoots' the actual video (Veo) and images (Imagen) based on the PD's (Gemini's) directions.

• Flow (The Main Editing Suite / All-in-One Production Suite): The integrated software where you assemble the footage, build out scenes, and create the final product. It also serves as the operating software for Veo and Imagen. It appears to be Google's ambitious answer to Final Cut or Premiere.

Now, back to the main point.

The reason Gemini stands out so starkly for YouTube analysis comes down to one thing:

The power of the 'Google Ecosystem.'

If you paste the same YouTube link into ChatGPT, you'll get a message like,

<I can't access that YouTube page directly...>

External tools like ChatGPT simply don't have direct access to YouTube's data.

But Gemini, being part of the same Google family, can access every data layer of a video just from the URL. This goes far beyond simply scraping CC (closed caption) text. It inhales and comprehensively analyzes visual elements, sound, the description box, and even tagged product information all at once.

Real-World Test: Analyzing a YouTube Video by Pasting a Link

Google AI Studio - Gemini - Chat

I put this to the test myself. I took the link to the "Dead Internet Theory" episode from SBS News's 'Omokgyo Electronic-Shop' series and prompted Gemini: "Analyze this video's core content, target audience, and potential revenue model."

The results were astounding.

Gemini didn't just summarize the content. It completely deconstructed the video's sophisticated storytelling structure:

'Posing a Conspiracy (Intro) -> Real-world Examples (Grounding) -> Academic Evidence (Deepening) -> Philosophical Questions (Conclusion).'

Furthermore, it accurately defined the target audience as '20-40 year old digital natives' and, based on that, proposed a multifaceted revenue model that went beyond 'YouTube ad revenue' to include 'branded content' and 'enhancing the SBS brand image.'

This wasn't just a guess; it was a credible report based on data owned by YouTube and Google. What really gave me chills was how the tone of the analysis mimicked the tone of the video itself, and how it deconstructed the success factors as if it had direct access to the channel's private YouTube Studio data, referencing key metrics like 'audience retention' and 'average view duration.'

It honestly felt like I was stealing a look at another channel's secret formula.

But What About Production? Can Google Solve It?

While Gemini is this powerful as an analysis tool, the story changes when you move into the realm of actual production. What I really wanted to test was the video creation tool, Flow, and the Veo model within it. I'll go into more detail in the next post, but here's the short version.

When I first saw Flow's interface, I immediately sensed Google's ambition to replace Final Cut or Premiere. The way it manages projects and uses a scene builder to create sequences clearly aims for the professional editing tool market.

But that’s where it stopped.

The biggest disappointment is the complete lack of separate audio control. As a producer, video and sound are inseparable. Even if I want to do sophisticated sound design to match the video quality, there is no way to deconstruct or modify the audio that Veo generates along with the prompt.

Furthermore, the amount of data Veo can process at once is limited, so complex directorial requests cause the output to break. In that case, I'd rather work on visuals, audio, and effects separately and then combine them. But Flow does not allow for such a modular approach; it's a 'closed box.'

This is the biggest limitation of current AI video generation tools.

In conclusion, Google AI Studio and Gemini can serve as a powerful assistant director or a co-writer during the analysis phase. However, the actual production tool, Flow, despite aiming for 'integration,' fails to provide the 'detailed control' that producers need most. The fact that you can't deconstruct and modify its output shows that it still has a long way to go.