Need an API to help scrape data? Check out this list of the top data and web scraping APIs to help you extract data.
Web scraping APIs, sometimes known as web crawler APIs, are used to “scrape” data from the publicly available data on the Internet. The most famous example of this type of API is the one that Google uses to determine its search results.
Web scrapers are designed to “scrape” or parse the data from a website and then return it for processing by another application. Prior to the advent of the Internet, the predecessors of these APIs were called screen scrapers. Screen scrapers were used to read the data on an application screen and then send it elsewhere for processing.
Web scrapers work by visiting various target websites and parsing the data contained within those websites. They are generally looking for specific types of data, or in some cases, may read the website in too. There are methods of excluding access to web scrapers, but very few sites do so. Also, unless the API has access to a private or corporate intranet, it will not be able to access those sites that are behind a firewall.
Developers who wish to use data from multiple websites are the perfect candidates to use this type of API. Google, Yahoo, and Bing all employ web crawlers to determine how pages will appear on Search Engine Results Pages (SERP).
This type of API is important because they allow developers to compile many sets of existing data into one source, thereby eliminating costly duplication of effort. Think of a web scraper as a means of avoiding recreating the wheel. If the data is already out there somewhere, it can be gathered and used much more easily than trying to compile a fresh set of data
Basically, a web crawler API can go out and look for whatever data you want to gather from target websites. The crawler is designed to gather data, classify data, and aggregate data, most do nothing to transform the data in any way. Think of these APIs as hunter/gatherers. They go out and catch the ingredients for dinner, but they don’t cook them.
There are many free web scraping tools out there. Some of these include Octoparse, ParseHub, Import.io, several extensions for the Chrome web browser, Dexi.io, and Webhorse.io.
All web scraping APIs are supported and made available in multiple developer programming languages and SDKs including:
Just select your preference from any API endpoints page.
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