Information technologies have created the most efficient digital platforms that made online communication our go-to choice for exchange, entertainment, and socialization. The internet and the gadgets that keep us connected are so used most web surfers take them for granted until an unexpected power outage.
With a wide variety of digital devices, the web gives even underprivileged users a right to education, information, and entertainment. The entity of incomprehensible complexity expands and affects every aspect of modern society, where the systems and hardware for data transmission and collection make it the most valuable resource.
Thanks to the ongoing exchange of information, billions of internet users around the world can enjoy and appreciate access to extremely valuable public information by paying the most successful companies with their data. While the best tools and platforms do not require payment, nothing comes free of charge and the internet is no exception: social media posts, interaction with platforms, search engine queries – everything is a resource that helps businesses run ads and improve future products, to make the internet and its tools faster, better, more efficient.
With platforms that encourage and reward public data sharing, and every revolutionary system created with clever manipulation of these resources, the web is full of public data. The uncontrollable, exponential expansion has resulted in enormous collections of accessible information, to the point that creates a unique XXI problem – the web is full of big, overlapping, ever-growing data, and dissecting the right components for specific use cases becomes impossible without automated tools for data aggregation and analysis.
In this article, we explain why we need web scraping for public data. From casual internet users to large multi-functional businesses, everyone can find tremendous benefits in the application of web extraction tools. With data storage and access points created with complex IT solutions, one must use the aid of data scraping technology to take the desired bite from the information mountain.
Web scraping sends more data requests than the average internet user, and you may encounter websites that try to discourage the use of web scrapers. To avoid trouble, make sure you use proxy servers to protect your bots. You can kill two birds with one stone by choosing the desired location for your scraping tasks. For example, with a US proxy, you can access blocked websites in the region or pretend to be a local user. Protections against bots may be less harsh for local users, so scraping the page with a US proxy will hide your real address and protect you from blocking at the same time. To learn more about the technical side of providers, check out Smartproxy – a top provider in this niche industry that focuses on affordable services for everyone. Check out their blog articles and get a US proxy in no time!
Personal scraping of public sources
An average internet user can make use of web scrapers and even save money while searching for cheaper prices for a vacation, real estate, and traveling. You can even write your scraper with little programming knowledge and free of cost and start scraping airlines, booking websites, and aggregators. Make sure to utilize proxy servers to have examples from different locations and compare their differences to fish out the best deal.
If extracted information does not show favorable results, do not lose hope! You can set up scraping tasks to occur at predetermined intervals to keep scouting for information and affordable deals. This technique is great for finding last-minute flights or canceled bookings which will be up for grabs with a massive discount!
High-quality Data for Businesses
Modern companies have everything to gain from web scraping tasks. When protected with the best proxy servers, they can act as parasites that constantly leech information from competitor websites, search engines, and social media pages. While you can always visit the page or an online shop of another retailer in your market, most businesses today are sensitive about their pricing. With the knowledge about the changes, their frequency, and observed trends at specific time intervals, you can better understand their behavior patterns and even predict changes in the future.
Such businesses are always two steps ahead of the opponent, and this accurate insight would not be possible without continuous data scraping of websites that have public data on your competitors.
Why web scrapers need residential proxies
To keep extracting information from essential sources, make sure to use residential proxies. Offered as the best privacy aid for working with sensitive data, providers sell these addresses because they are used by real devices, and serviced by legitimate internet service providers. While they seem like a costly investment, using residential IPs with a rotation option will divert any suspicion from your scraping tasks and save you a lot of time by eliminating interruptions. As we know, time is money, which makes residential proxies the perfect partners for web-scraping bots.
