Debunking Ten Myths About Web Scraping
Web scraping. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Every day, countless articles are written about scraping. But how do you tell a good article from a bad one? What should you really believe?
Given that the World Wide Web is a goldmine of information, it's easy to believe things that aren't quite true. Especially when a niche topic becomes increasingly common, like web scraping. In this article, we'll cover some of the biggest misconceptions about web scraping services.
1. It's Legal!
This is the most common thing we encounter. Web scraping is often seen as stealing data and content from others. But legal precedents say otherwise.
It has been firmly established that any data that is publicly available and not protected by copyright can be scraped legally. However, this comes with certain caveats. The data cannot be used for unlimited commercial purposes.
Furthermore, it remains illegal to obtain data from sites that require authentication. The terms of service that must be agreed to before accessing such a site typically prohibit automated data collection.
2. Web Scraping Is Not the Same as Crawling
Most often, the terms "crawling" and "scraping" are used interchangeably. Web scraping is used to extract data and download it in required formats. Crawling reads web pages with the sole purpose of creating records for search engine indexing. Meanwhile, scraping searches for something specific, finds and collects links from a list of initial URLs to feed search engines.
3. You Can't Scrape Any Site or Content
Let's explain this with an example. You can use YouTube to search for, say, relevant titles. Because it is a public platform. But you cannot repost videos because that content is copyrighted.
A clear distinction is that only public sites can be scraped. It only becomes problematic when you collect information from a site on your own terms without prior permission. For convenience, do not scrape the following:
- a). Data protected by a username and password
- b). Websites with Terms of Service and CAPTCHA
- c). Copyrighted data
4. You Don't Need to Be a Coding Guru
There are many scraping services that are very useful for non-technical companies. This is much more efficient and cost-effective than building your own in-house web scraping team. You get access to the best infrastructure; you can scale it up (or down!) based on your needs. Then you just need to know how to choose a data scraping service that meets your requirements. And that's literally it!
5. The Use of Scraped Data Is Not Unlimited
Data extraction has its limitations. If you think about it, they are mostly intuitive. You can use scraped data from public websites to draw conclusions and conduct research.
It becomes unethical when you try to use scraped data for profit. Primarily if you want to repurpose and sell that data. It's also illegal to use someone else's content without citing sources. And needless to say, fraudulent use of data is considered fraud.
6. Not All Web Scraping Services Are One-Size-Fits-All
In the world of the web, websites are constantly being updated. Layouts change. Structures change. Terms of Service change. Perhaps the first time your scraping worked, but the second time it didn't. Data scraping services simply need to reconfigure to successfully parse websites. Different geolocations and machine access can also lead to failed parsing. The trick is to carefully choose a versatile data scraping service.
7. Scraping at Super-Fast Speed Is a Great Idea
A classic clickbait advertisement is scrapers boasting about how fast they are. In reality, you don't need that. As counterintuitive as it sounds. No matter how much you need data in seconds, data retrieved at immense speed can overwhelm a web server and cause it to crash. You could face a lawsuit if actual damage occurs. A textbook example is the 2013 Dryer and Stockton case.
How to avoid this situation? Very simple. Find a responsible data scraping service provider.
8. Web Scraping and APIs Are the Same Thing
The goal of both web scraping and APIs is to create access to data. But the real difference is that scraping allows you to search for data on a site (with the limitations we discussed above, of course!), while an API gives you access to detailed data. What does that mean? It means that while there may be scenarios where APIs are not available for a specific site or are prohibitively expensive, scraping comes to your rescue.
Excellent data scraping services essentially help you create your own API when one doesn't exist. Great win!
9. Scraped Data Cannot Be Used As-Is
Although raw data is usually unprocessed and difficult to work with, sometimes this first-level data can work wonders. Especially if your goal is lead generation.
This stage can also be used if a human will be doing the analysis. Raw data is often underestimated, especially when you can't afford manipulation and processing in terms of both money and time. Lay out the raw data in a spreadsheet, and you might be surprised!
10. Data Scraping Is Only for Business
This couldn't be further from the truth. What web scraping can be used for is limited only by our imagination. You can use it in virtually any area of your digital life.
Need to find the best deal on your next big purchase? Extract data to get real-time insights on price differences. Need to find the best movie to watch? Scour movie review sites and sort your evenings like never before! Stuck in a rut and want to see other job offers? Analyze career sites and find the best fit. Real estate agents use it for regression analysis of property prices. Travel aggregator sites will find you the best deals. It's time to try web scraping.
Although we've tried to uncover some of the most common myths about scraping, the smartest move is to use a top-notch web scraping service provider to get the most out of it!