Jun 11, 2019 Web scraping is a technology that’s been around for a while now, although it has evolved a lot over the years. One of the main catalysts for this change is the popularity of Single Page Applications (SPAs) and the fact. Web Scraping is the automation of the data extraction process from websites. This event is done with the help of web scraping software known as web scrapers. They automatically load and extract data from the websites based on user requirements. These can be custom built to work for one site or can be configured to work with any website. Web scraping is an automated method used to extract large amounts of data from websites. The data on the websites are unstructured. Web scraping helps collect these unstructured data and store it in a structured form. There are different ways to scrape websites such as online Services, APIs or writing your own code. Photo by michael podger on Unsplash Introducing web scraping Simply put, web scraping is one of the tools developers use to gather and analyze information from the Internet. Some websites and platforms offer application programming interfaces (APIs) which we can use to access information in a structured way, but others might not.

1. Web Scraping Definition
2. What Does Web Scraping Mean
3. How Does Web Scraping Work
4. Web Scraping Meaning In Telugu
5. Web Scraping Tools
6. Is Web Scraping Illegal

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Web Scraping (also termed Screen Scraping, Web Data Extraction, Web Harvesting etc.) is a technique employed to extract large amounts of data from websites whereby the data is extracted and saved to a local file in your computer or to a database in table (spreadsheet) format.

Data displayed by most websites can only be viewed using a web browser. They do not offer the functionality to save a copy of this data for personal use. The only option then is to manually copy and paste the data - a very tedious job which can take many hours or sometimes days to complete. Web Scraping is the technique of automating this process, so that instead of manually copying the data from websites, the Web Scraping software will perform the same task within a fraction of the time.

A web scraping software will automatically load and extract data from multiple pages of websites based on your requirement. It is either custom built for a specific website or is one which can be configured to work with any website. With the click of a button you can easily save the data available in the website to a file in your computer.

Practical Usage Scenarios

• 1. Extract product details including price, images etc. from eCommerce websites for populating other websites, competition monitoring etc.


• 2. Extract business contact details including name, address, email, phone, website etc. from Yellow Pages, Google Maps etc. for marketing and lead generation.


• 3. Extract property details as well as agent contact details from real estate websites.

Web Scraping Definition

Methods of Web Scraping

• 1. Using software



Web Scraping software falls under 2 categories. First, which can be locally installed in your computer and second, which runs in cloud - browser based. WebHarvy, OutWit Hub, Visual Web Ripper etc. are examples of web scraping software which can be installed in your computer, whereas import.io, Mozenda etc. are examples of cloud data extraction platforms.

• 2. Writing code



You can hire a developer to build custom data extraction software for your specific requirement. The developer can in-turn make use of web scraping APIs which helps him/her develop the software easily. For example apify.com lets you easily get APIs to scrape data from any website.

Our Solution

The problem with most generic web scraping software is that they are very difficult to setup and use. There is a steep learning curve involved. WebHarvy was designed to solve this problem. With a very intuitive, point and click interface, WebHarvy allows you to start extracting data within minutes from any website.

Please watch the following demonstration which shows how easy it is to configure and use WebHarvy for your data extraction needs.

As shown in the video above, WebHarvy is a point and click web scraper (visual web scraper) which lets you scrape data from websites with ease. Unlike most other web scraper software, WebHarvy can be configured to extract the required data from websites with mouse clicks. You just need to select the data to be extracted by pointing the mouse. Yes, it is that easy !. We recommend that you try the evaluation version of WebHarvy or see the video demo.

Keywords: Web Scraper, Screen Scraper, Data Extraction, Web Scraping Software, Screen Scraping, Web Harvesting

Some websites can contain a very large amount of invaluable data.

Stock prices, product details, sports stats, company contacts, you name it.

If you wanted to access this information, you’d either have to use whatever format the website uses or copy-paste the information manually into a new document. Here’s where web scraping can help.

What is Web Scraping?

Web scraping refers to the extraction of data from a website. This information is collected and then exported into a format that is more useful for the user. Be it a spreadsheet or an API.

Although web scraping can be done manually, in most cases, automated tools are preferred when scraping web data as they can be less costly and work at a faster rate.

But in most cases, web scraping is not a simple task. Websites come in many shapes and forms, as a result, web scrapers vary in functionality and features.

If you want to find the best web scraper for your project, make sure to read on.

How do Web Scrapers Work?

Automated web scrapers work in a rather simple but also complex way. After all, websites are built for humans to understand, not machines.

First, the web scraper will be given one or more URLs to load before scraping. The scraper then loads the entire HTML code for the page in question. More advanced scrapers will render the entire website, including CSS and Javascript elements.

Then the scraper will either extract all the data on the page or specific data selected by the user before the project is run.

Ideally, the user will go through the process of selecting the specific data they want from the page. For example, you might want to scrape an Amazon product page for prices and models but are not necessarily interested in product reviews.

Lastly, the web scraper will output all the data that has been collected into a format that is more useful to the user.

Most web scrapers will output data to a CSV or Excel spreadsheet, while more advanced scrapers will support other formats such as JSON which can be used for an API.

What Kind of Web Scrapers are There?

Web scrapers can drastically differ from each other on a case-by-case basis.

For simplicity’s sake, we will break down some of these aspects into 4 categories. Of course, there are more intricacies at play when comparing web scrapers.

• self-built or pre-built
• browser extension vs software
• User interface
• Cloud vs Local

Self-built or Pre-built

Just like how anyone can build a website, anyone can build their own web scraper.

However, the tools available to build your own web scraper still require some advanced programming knowledge. The scope of this knowledge also increases with the number of features you’d like your scraper to have.

On the other hand, there are numerous pre-built web scrapers that you can download and run right away. Some of these will also have advanced options added such as scrape scheduling, JSON and Google Sheets exports and more.

Browser extension vs Software

In general terms, web scrapers come in two forms: browser extensions or computer software.

Browser extensions are app-like programs that can be added onto your browser such as Google Chrome or Firefox. Some popular browser extensions include themes, ad blockers, messaging extensions and more.

Web scraping extensions have the benefit of being simpler to run and being integrated right into your browser.

However, these extensions are usually limited by living in your browser. Meaning that any advanced features that would have to occur outside of the browser would be impossible to implement. For example, IP Rotations would not be possible in this kind of extension.

What Does Web Scraping Mean

On the other hand, you will have actual web scraping software that can be downloaded and installed on your computer. While these are a bit less convenient than browser extensions, they make up for it in advanced features that are not limited by what your browser can and cannot do.

User Interface

The user interface between web scrapers can vary quite extremely.

For example, some web scraping tools will run with a minimal UI and a command line. Some users might find this unintuitive or confusing.

On the other hand, some web scrapers will have a full-fledged UI where the website is fully rendered for the user to just click on the data they want to scrape. These web scrapers are usually easier to work with for most people with limited technical knowledge.

Some scrapers will go as far as integrating help tips and suggestions through their UI to make sure the user understands each feature that the software offers.

Cloud vs Local

From where does your web scraper actually do its job?

Local web scrapers will run on your computer using its resources and internet connection. This means that if your web scraper has a high usage of CPU or RAM, your computer might become quite slow while your scrape runs. With long scraping tasks, this could put your computer out of commission for hours.

Additionally, if your scraper is set to run on a large number of URLs (such as product pages), it can have an impact on your ISP’s data caps.

Cloud-based web scrapers run on an off-site server which is usually provided by the company who developed the scraper itself. This means that your computer’s resources are freed up while your scraper runs and gathers data. You can then work on other tasks and be notified later once your scrape is ready to be exported.

This also allows for very easy integration of advanced features such as IP rotation, which can prevent your scraper from getting blocked from major websites due to their scraping activity.

What are Web Scrapers Used For?

By this point, you can probably think of several different ways in which web scrapers can be used. We’ve put some of the most common ones below (plus a few unique ones).

• Scraping site data before a website migration
• Scraping financial data for market research and insights

The list of things you can do with web scraping is almost endless. After all, it is all about what you can do with the data you’ve collected and how valuable you can make it.

How Does Web Scraping Work

Read our Beginner's guide to web scraping to start learning how to scrape any website!

The Best Web Scraper

So, now that you know the basics of web scraping, you’re probably wondering what is the best web scraper for you?

Web Scraping Meaning In Telugu

The obvious answer is that it depends.

The more you know about your scraping needs, the better of an idea you will have about what’s the best web scraper for you. However, that did not stop us from writing our guide on what makes the Best Web Scraper.

Web Scraping Tools

Of course, we would always recommend ParseHub. Not only can it be downloaded for FREE but it comes with an incredibly powerful suite of features which we reviewed in this article. Including a friendly UI, cloud-based scrapping, awesome customer support and more.

Is Web Scraping Illegal

Want to become an expert on Web Scraping for Free? Take ourfree web scraping courses and become Certified in Web Scraping today!