Web scraping is a process for collecting data from the Internet. Screen scraping, while less prevalent, is used to scrape images from websites. That was the short and sweet version.
If you’re looking for a deeper dive, though, we’re more than happy to oblige. As you may well know, web scraping is a buzzword now. It’s a process used by corporations and individuals alike. In this article, we’ll take a more detailed look at the scraping world, define the use cases, and explore other types.
A brief introduction to web scraping
As stated in the first line of this article, web scraping means collecting data from the Internet. In more technical terms, it is a process done by bots to gather as much qualitative, quantitative, and relevant data as possible for a wide range of purposes.
Data drives the modern world, and the more data a company or individual owns, the more valuable they can do with it. Quality is always above quantity, so the best approach to web scraping is made by automated scripts, bots, or even smart contracts.
Furthermore, since bots do web scraping, they can immediately scrape new content as posted, saving any downtime or additional setup you might need to do with a manual system. A bot network with a high-quality United States proxy server can allow you to run thousands of bots without firewalls and data protection systems flagging them up. This is because a proxy server can disguise the connection details of your scraper bots so that they appear as real traffic. This can allow you to scrape data on a scale that would not be possible without proper traffic encryption.
In data scraping, the critical factor is the collected data type – implying that obtaining more valuable data poses more significant challenges. With a highly sophisticated bot equipped with proxies and efficient code, you can effortlessly breach various sources and scrape a wide array of data, including utilizing rotating IP addresses.
What is web scraping used for?
Web scraping is used for an abundance of things, all of which are centered around data collection. The data procured from web scraping has limitless applications, the most prominent of which are:
- Improving the lead generation of your website
- Price comparison between the competition
- Monitoring your competition
- Outbidding your competition
- Building links and improving your position in the SERPS
- Getting a better placement as a service provider of any kind
- Making both internal and external changes based on data-driven decisions
- Doing high-end academic research for scholarly applications
- Odds analysis and heightened decision-making
- AI and ML applications and data procurement
The possibilities are virtually endless when you’re working with web scraping. Not only does it give you a cushion of data from which to learn, but you can also learn from the mistakes of others rather than your own.
What types of web scraping are there?
Essentially, there are two types of data scraping – itself and screen scraping. Web scraping applies to collecting all kinds of data from websites, data centers, and stores other websites use to collect and store their data.
On the other hand, screen scraping refers to collecting the content on websites, such as images, texts, widgets, and similar things. Both are done similarly and have a similar use case: data procurement.
Web Scraping
Web scraping is usually done by bots that are aimed to collect specific types of data from particular places. The data collected with the bots are generally pretty “raw” and require further refinement before they become tangible.
Data scraping is helpful if you want to collect a large amount of broad data you plan to use after refinement to improve internal operations and decision-making.
Screen Scraping
Screen scraping, on the other hand, is equally valid, but it’s used by different people/businesses for various things. Scraping mostly means scraping images from websites, which can be used to analyze what those images mean to the consumer/visitor and overview their metadata, which is also essential.
This term also encompasses collecting other things from “the screen,” such as widgets, navigation, texts, etc.
Challenges Associated with Web Scraping
Outdated content often frustrates web scrapers. Websites actively update pages and layouts, causing scrapers to break when attempting to extract information that no longer exists or is in a new location. Web scrapers must vigilantly monitor for changes and continuously tweak scripts accordingly.
Large websites leveraging complex JavaScript can overwhelm essential web scraping tools, obstructing attempts to access and parse through HTML content programmatically. Scrapers require customization and coding expertise to navigate advanced interfaces.
Similarly, sites utilizing intensive security measures actively try to detect and block scraping activity through CAPTCHAs, IP blocking, and other obfuscation tactics. Scrapers locked out by safeguards fail to access data, requiring persistent alternative IP rotation and evasive maneuvers.
Once collected, massive scraped datasets demand meticulous data cleaning to format information appropriately, de-duplicate records, reconcile errors, and guarantee integrity for analysis. Otherwise, flawed raw scraping output hampers data value due to lingering quality defects.
Conclusion
Web scraping is a crucial process that benefits more businesses and individuals worldwide than you imagine. It can be employed for many purposes, from improving lead generation to price monitoring. Whatever your goal is, rest assured that web scraping will become a reliable companion to making the best business decisions.
