Web scraping is a method of extracting desired data from websites. The gathered information has many implications for both businesses and individuals. A wide selection of scraping software can be used in various ways to the benefit of the user.

 

Life in the age of information places a big value on data collection and processing. Because so many clients seek out companies through the internet and search engines, the businesses themselves can see a much clearer picture of the market and opportunities for potential growth. Low communication and transaction costs and the capabilities of today’s software make the former struggle for resources obsolete.

In today’s market, businesses are less affected by gatekeeping. Competence and rational business decisions help to compete even with the strongest contenders. The age of information sees data as the most valuable asset.

Benefits of web scraping

Data collection is the key to success in the digital market. Information obtained by web scraping affects every business decision. Having a competent data scientist at a company ensures a stable, continuous flow of useful and relevant information. Outperforming competitors in the collection of knowledge is a good way to ensure flexibility and company growth.

Efficient data extraction has many applications. Researching keywords for search engine optimization (SEO) is an important goal for every marketing team. Generating quality website traffic gives the company a lot of valuable exposure. However, the real value of scraped public data can be seen as its flexible exploitation.

Analyzing the smallest details and turning them into valuable insights is what makes companies go from good to great. Anyone who knows where to look can scrape valuable data that will benefit the business. Companies that have access to the most information benefit from its versatility and thrive. If you want to learn web scraping but don’t know where to start, Proxyway has prepared an extensive web scraping guide for beginners.

When to use web scraping

Continuous data scraping is a good way for developing companies to keep an eye on their market. Any strategical planning can be changed or adjusted based on the activity of its competitors. Thorough extraction of data helps to lay the groundwork of a company and learn from the competition. The development of a strategy with a big pool of data shows the most important tendencies of the market. Researching its state and trends, a company’s strategy can be tweaked to achieve the most favorable results.

Businesses gain great benefits by analyzing their opponents. Collecting public data about more successful companies shows their strengths, weaknesses, and most importantly – prices. Extracting information about a successful competitor keeps a company always one step ahead. Tracking every move of a rival puts them in a sticky situation, which allows them to undercut and manipulate. Web scraping is a great way to analyze the prices and behavior of the competition.

Accessing different yet related sources of public data can give a lot of valuable information about potential clients. Web scraping can be used for extracting information from customer reviews and ratings from various websites. Analyzing negative reviews helps to see the flaws of a product or a service sold by a competitor. Positive reviews highlight the best products and the reasons for their success. Extracted public data shows insights into the preferences of clients.

Web scraping proves to be an essential tool for gathering and manipulating information. However, it can also be used to protect the company’s brand and intellectual property. Gathering data where the name of a business has been mentioned can help detect bad publicity. Scraping image search results or text fragments off of search engines can uncover cases of intellectual property theft. Web scraping is a great, proactive tool that can be used to protect the company’s image.

How to scrape without getting blocked

There are a lot of public data sources that can be beneficial for businesses. Having said that, a lot of companies use protective measures to prevent data mining activities. Scraping these competitors can result in IP blocking or cloaking.

An IP block stops and blocks the transmission of connection requests. A blocked user will no longer be able to connect to that server.

IP cloaking is a creative, but very punishing way of dealing with unwanted scrapers. Instead of stopping the procedure, IP cloaking extracts fabricated data from a website. In some cases, the scraper never figures it out and keeps mining false information.

The best way to make public data more accessible is to use a residential proxy. Residential proxies let us use a different IP address for web scraping. Even better, rotating residential proxies assign different IP addresses for every connection. This allows to access, extract, and manipulate important public data and avoid blocks.

Web scraping is a legitimate way to gather important data from public sources. Residential proxies create a safety net and make public data more accessible to businesses. In the age of information, data is the most important resource. Tools that extract, and manipulate information with minimal blocks are essential for a successful company.