Complete Guide to Web Scraping with RPA
Web scraping is the process of extracting data from websites to obtain information about web pages. The resulting data is used in various fields such as competitive research, public relations, trading, etc.
Web scraping is not illegal, but a person or a program can use the extracted data in a way that contradicts the author's interests. Therefore, there is a constant legal and technical struggle between data collectors (e.g., web scrapers) and data owners, as in the lawsuit between HiQ Labs and LinkedIn. Data owners create barriers to ensure data access only to humans, and in response, data collectors use a combination of technical and human resources to overcome these barriers.
Using RPA bots, users can automate scraping of unprotected websites with drag-and-drop functions, eliminating manual data entry and reducing human errors. However, to scrape websites with high data and content protection, users need specialized scraping applications combined with proxy-based solutions.
Here, we examine how RPA is used for web scraping:
What is RPA?
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a type of software that performs repetitive tasks by mimicking human interaction with graphical user interface elements. Interest in RPA is growing as the technology becomes more advanced and vendors provide low-code/no-code interfaces for creating RPA bots. The global RPA market is expected to reach $11 billion by 2027. RPA is a prime candidate for automating any repetitive tasks, and a typical rules-based process can be automated by 70%-80%.
Manually searching for information on the internet can be a tedious task requiring many clicks, scrolling, copying, and pasting to extract the desired data. That is why it is advisable to use RPA for automating web scraping.
How to Automate Web Scraping with RPA?
RPA bots perform repetitive tasks by replicating the GUI processes that a human would normally perform to accomplish a task. In the case of web scraping, users must:
- Find the URL to scrape
- Examine the page to find data matching the query
- Write code (e.g., in Python) or use an extension to extract data
- Export data to a table.
RPA bots can be programmed to log into a specified URL, scroll through multiple pages, extract specific data, and convert it to the required format. Additionally, the bot can input the extracted data directly into another application or system for various purposes (e.g., sending via email, modifying spreadsheet fields, etc.).
What are the Benefits of RPA in Web Scraping?
- Elimination of manual data entry errors
- Extraction of images and videos
- Reduction of data extraction and entry time
- Automatic monitoring of websites and portals for data changes.
Web scraping tools or RPA software allow creating scraping bots without writing code or scripts to extract data.
RPA can be a suitable tool for web scraping, especially if additional processing of the scraped data is needed. Various technologies can be easily integrated into RPA bots used for scraping. For example, a machine learning API integrated into the bot can identify company websites based on extracted logos.
What Challenges Does RPA Face in Web Scraping?
Since RPA bots rely on GUI elements to recognize the desired data, it is difficult to automate web scraping when pages do not display content in a consistent manner. The main challenges RPA faces in web scraping are:
User Interface Elements
Some UI elements make the task more difficult, but RPA bots can handle them.
"Load More" Button
Typically, the bot scrolls down the page, extracts data, and exports it to an output file. Some web pages, especially product pages, load data in parts and allow users to view more items via a "Load More" button. In this case, the bot will stop extracting data at the end of the page instead of exploring other products.
The solution is to implement an if-loop in the bot program that clicks the "Load More" GUI element if it exists, until no more buttons appear on the page.
Navigating to the Next Page
Similar to the "Show More" button, some content may be loaded on the next page. The solution can also be to create a loop to click the "Next Page" GUI element to open the next URL.
Pop-up Ads
Pop-up elements or ads can hide GUI elements from the bot and prevent it from extracting underlying data. A solution is to use an AdBlocker extension for the browser used for web scraping.
Anti-Scraping Systems
Sites like LinkedIn use sophisticated technologies to protect their sites from scraping. In such cases, users have several options:
Work with a company that provides site data as a data-as-a-service model. In this case, the provider handles all programming and manual verification and delivers clean data via API or CSV.
Building your own data pipeline. You can use web scraping software or RPA combined with proxy servers to create bots that are indistinguishable from humans.