7 Tips For Secure Web Data Extraction

Data Extraction Server Respond
Data Extraction Server Respond

Web data extraction, often known as web scraping, involves gathering data online through bots and other programs that mimic web browsing. You can also utilize the process to find and collect a specific type of data. Cataloging, competitor analysis, market research, brand monitoring, and content aggregation utilize web scraping.

It can also be a type of data mining gaining traction for gathering aggregated data such as market prices. You can export the data to a database or an application programming interface (API).

If you’re going to use social media data for research or marketing purposes and are planning to scrape social media, it’s crucial to use a reliable web scraping tool to get the best results.

Web scraping can be the ideal tool to acquire powerful insights, whether for market research or staying up to date with the competition. It comes with its own challenges and can be technical. However, utilizing key methods and tools such as proxy rotators, headless browsers, or an all-in-one web scraping API like ZenRows, will help you get the data you need.

You should follow the best practices below to get the most out of your scraping efforts when using one.

1. Take Into Consideration The Rules In The Robots.Txt

If you plan to use web scraping, the first thing you need to do is check the robots.txt file of the website you’ll be extracting data from. Generally, there are website rules on how the bots should interact with the site in the robots.txt file.

Some websites are strict since they block crawler access in their robots.txt file. If you continue to extract from websites that don’t allow crawling, you may face legal consequences and should avoid doing so.

Aside from blocking access, each website has set rules on proper behavior on the site in robots.txt. Make sure you’ll carefully follow the rules while extracting data from the website.

2. Redirect Requests Via Proxies

If your request hits the server of a target website, it’ll be noted in a log. Remember that websites will record every activity you’re doing on the website. Generally, websites have a set threshold on the number of requests they can get from a single IP address. The website will block the IP address once the request rate exceeds the threshold.

The ideal way to get around this limitation is to route your requests via a proxy network and rotate IPs frequently. If you’re running a business, you need a reliable proxy network. You can use proxies to make sure nobody can see your real IP address or if you need to access or scrape restricted websites in your current location.

3. Avoid Flooding The Servers With Numerous Requests

An overloaded web server is vulnerable to downtime. Similar to human users, the presence of bots can be a burden to the website’s server. It may result in an unpleasant experience for visitors when they’re browsing the website.
Set the crawler to hit the target site at a fair frequency and try to cap the number of simultaneous queries if you don’t want to cause any disturbances to the website. As a result, the website will be able to unwind.

Web Scraping
Web Scraping

4. Scraping Should Be Done During Off-peak Hours

Scheduling web crawling during off-peak hours is one way to ensure that the website you’re targeting won’t slow down. The location of where the majority of traffic originates can help you determine off-peak hours.

Scraping during off-peak hours will prevent the website servers from overloading. It also boosts the overall pace of the data extraction process because the server responds faster.

5. Cache To Speed Up Scraping

Knowing which pages the web scraper has visited previously can help speed up the process. You can achieve this by caching requests and responses from the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). All you have to do is write it to a file for a one-time task or a database if you scrape repeatedly. Remember that caching the pages can help avoid making unwanted requests.

6. Examine The Terms And Conditions For Logging In And Using The Website

You agree to their web scraping practices if you log in or agree to the terms and conditions. Be wary, however, because it may directly indicate that you’re not authorized to scrape any data.

If you need to sign in to scrape data in such instances, you should carefully review the terms you’ll be agreeing to. Remember that some websites may state that data scraping is prohibited.

7. Use The Data Responsibly

Depending on your specific purpose for extracting data, you should use it properly. Make sure to utilize the data responsibly and align it with the website’s policies.

When scraping a website, you should first check if the information you want is copyrighted. Generally, copyright is an exclusive legal right over physical work, such as articles, photos, and videos, to name a few.

Final Thoughts

If you’re running a business and gathering various data types, including social media, ensure you’ll follow the best practices to ensure a secure web data extraction process. Doing so will greatly help save time, money, and resources while staying a step away from copyright issues.

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