Most product teams stop at top-level comments. That is usually where the obvious reactions live. Replies are where people explain themselves. That is a much better place to look if you care about: objections feature requests product confusion pricing resistance onboarding friction competitor comparisons I still like user interviews. I still run them. I would never tell you YouTube comments should replace talking to real customers. But if you are trying to find language, recurring problems, and messy real-world buyer questions before you book ten calls, YouTube comment replies are a very underused source. This post shows you how I use them for product research, how to pull them with JavaScript and Python, and when this approach is smarter than interviews, surveys, or the official API. Why Replies Matter More Than Top-Level Comments Top-level comments are often performative. People praise the creator. Joke about the video. Drop a quick take. Argue with the premise. Replies are different.…