With the increasing demand for big data, web scraping has become a prominent issue among individuals.
Web scraping is being used by an increasing number of people to scrape data from multiple websites.
Because this information can help them grow their business.
The process of scraping data from online sites, on the other hand, is not always easy.
Many difficulties may arise in extracting data, such as IP blocking and CAPTCHA.
Platform owners utilise such tactics to prevent online scraping, which might make it difficult to obtain data.
Let’s take a closer look at these obstacles and how web scraping tools can help to overcome them.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 1
BOT ACCESS
When your scraper isn’t working properly, the first thing to check is whether your target website permits for scraping.
Check the Terms of Service (ToS) to see if the website is available for scraping or not via its robots.txt file.
Some platforms may require authorization for web scraping.
In this case, you can request access from the webmaster and describe your scraping needs and goals.
If the owner does not accept your application, it is recommended to find another site with identical material to prevent any legal complications.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 2
IP BLOCKING
IP blocking is a popular strategy for preventing web scrapers from accessing a website’s data.
This usually occurs when a website detects a huge volume of requests from the same IP address.
To slow down the scraping operation, the website would either completely block the IP or restrict its access.
Many IP proxy services enable consumers to access an ethically expanding home proxy pool to meet any business’s demands, regardless of magnitude.
Residential proxies assist businesses in optimising resources by producing substantially fewer CAPTCHAs, IP blockages, and other impediments.
IP proxy services are often provided by two companies:
Luminati and Oxylabs.
Oxylabs, for example, provides 100M+ Residential Proxies from all over the world.
Each residential proxy it provides is selected from a reliable source to ensure businesses don’t encounter any issues while gathering public data.
The company also offers location-based targeting at the country, city, and state levels and is best known for brand protection, market research, business intelligence, and ad verification.
Oxylabs provides a data centre proxy, mobile and SOCKS5 proxies, as well as a proxy management and rotator. You can try their service for 7 days for free or pay as you go starting at around $15/GB as at the moment of research.
When it comes to web scraping tools, Octoparse offers several cloud servers for Cloud Extraction to deal with IP blocking.
When your task runs with Cloud Extraction, you can take advantage of multiple Octoparse IPs, avoiding using only one IP to request too many times while maintaining high speed.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 3
COMPLICATED AND FAST CHANGING WEBSITE STRUCTURES.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) files form the foundation of the majority of web pages.
However, because designers and developers may have different standards for creating pages, web page topologies can vary greatly.
As a result, if you need to scrape various websites or even different pages on the same platform, you may need to create a scraper for each one.
That is not all.
Websites update their content or add new features on a regular basis to improve the user experience and loading speed, which frequently results in structural changes to the web pages.
A prior scraper may not work for an updated page since web scrapers are configured based on the page’s design.
Even minor changes to the target website can affect the accuracy of the scraped data and need adjusting the scraper.
Web scraping technologies make it easier to extract data than creating programmes.
To deal with diverse sites, Octoparse, for example, uses customised workflows to emulate human behaviours.
You may adapt the scraper to new pages with a few clicks rather than rechecking HTML files and rewriting code.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 4
CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA, which stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart, is frequently used to distinguish humans from scraping tools by displaying images or logical problems that humans find simple to solve but scrapers do not.
Many CAPTCHA solutions can now be integrated into bots to ensure continuous scraping.
To increase web scraping speed, Octoparse can presently handle three types of CAPTCHA automatically: hCaptcha, ReCaptcha V2, and ImageCaptcha.
However, while solutions for overcoming CAPTCHA can aid in the acquisition of continuous data feeds, they may still slow down the scraping process.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 5
HONEYPOT TRAPS
A honeypot is a trap placed on a website by its owner to catch web scrapers.
Traps can be invisible to humans but visible to scrapers elements or connections.
If a scraper accesses such components and falls into the trap, the website can use the IP address it obtains to prevent that scraper.
Octoparse use XPath to pinpoint things for clicking or scraping.
The scraper can identify the desired data fields from honeypot traps
using XPath, lowering the chances of being caught by the traps.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 6
SLOW AND ON STABLE LOADING SPEED
When too many access requests are received, websites may reply slowly or even fail to load.
When humans surf the site, this is not a problem since they just reload the page and wait for it to recover. When it comes to online scraping, though, things alter.
Because the scraper is unsure how to handle such an emergency, the scraping operation may be disrupted.
As a result, users may need to explicitly instruct the scraper to retry.
You can also add an extra action while creating a scraper.
To remedy the issue, Octoparse now allows customers to set up an auto-retry or retry loading when specified circumstances are satisfied.
You can even run customised procedures under predefined scenarios.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 7
DYNAMIC CONTENT
To update dynamic web content, many websites use AJAX (asynchronous JavaScript and XML).
Lazy loading of graphics, limitless scrolling, and displaying additional information by pressing a button are all examples of AJAX calls.
It allows users to read more information without having to refresh the website and lose all of the prior stuff on the page.
However, it can be difficult for web scrapers.
A web scraper that does not recognise AJAX may fail to collect data or obtain duplicate stuff.
Octoparse handles AJAX by allowing users to configure an AJAX timeout for the “Click item” or “Click to Paginate” buttons, instructing Octoparse to proceed to the next action when the timeout is reached.
Following that, you may quickly obtain a scraper that can scrape pages.
GENERAL CHALLENGES NUMBER 8
LOGIN REQUIREMENTS
Some sensitive information may need you to log in before you can view a website.
Once you provide your login information, your browser will automatically attach the cookie value to any subsequent requests you make to most websites, letting them know you’re the same person who logged in earlier.
Similarly, when using a web scraper to extract data from a website, you may be required to log in with your account in order to access the desired data.
Ensure that cookies have been sent with the requests in this period.
Octoparse can easily assist users in scraping page data behind a login and saving cookies in the same way that a browser does.
GENERAL CHALLENGE NUMBER 9
REAL TIME DATA SCRAPING
Scraping data in real-time is essential for price comparisons, competitor monitoring, inventory tracking, etc.
The data can change in the blink of an eye and may lead to huge capital gains for a business.
The scraper needs to monitor the websites all the time and extract the latest data.
However, it is hard to avoid some delays as the request and data delivery will take time, not to mention acquiring a large amount of data in real-time is a time-consuming and heavy workload task for most web scrapers.
Octoparse has cloud servers that allow users to schedule their web scraping tasks at a minimum interval of 5 minutes to achieve nearly real-time scraping.
After setting a scheduled extraction, Octoparse will launch the task automatically to collect the most up-to-date information rather than requiring users to click the Start button repeatedly, which will undoubtedly improve working efficiency.
Aside from the difficulties highlighted in this piece, there are undoubtedly further difficulties and restrictions in web scraping.
However, there is a common approach for scraping: treat the websites with respect and avoid overloading them.
If you want a more efficient and seamless web scraping experience, you can always choose a web scraping tool or service like SCRAPINGBOT, PARSEHUB, IMPORT.IO, WEBSCRAPER.IO, SCRAPER, OUTWIT HUB to assist you with the scraping operation.
Try Octoparse right now to take your web scraping to the next level!
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complex and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
Would love to always get updated outstanding web blog! .
Attractive section of content I just stumbled upon your blog and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts Anyway I will be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently fast
Its like you read my mind You appear to know so much about this like you wrote the book in it or something I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit but other than that this is fantastic blog A great read Ill certainly be back
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your website? My blog site is in the exact same area of interest as yours and my users would genuinely benefit from some of the information you present here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Cheers!
Yes its okay.
Thank you.
This is a great web site, will you be interested in doing an interview about how you developed it? If so e-mail me!
Hi my loved one I wish to say that this post is amazing nice written and include approximately all vital infos Id like to peer more posts like this
Thanks very nice blog!
Hmm it looks like your blog ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips for inexperienced blog writers? I’d genuinely appreciate it.
Through my research, shopping for electronics online can for sure be expensive, although there are some tricks and tips that you can use to obtain the best products. There are continually ways to come across discount promotions that could help to make one to possess the best technology products at the smallest prices. Good blog post.
I have really learned some new things from a blog post. Yet another thing to I have observed is that usually, FSBO sellers will probably reject people. Remember, they will prefer not to ever use your services. But if anyone maintain a gentle, professional relationship, offering guide and staying in contact for four to five weeks, you will usually have the ability to win an interview. From there, a listing follows. Many thanks
Your website won’t render correctly on my android – you may wanna try and repair that
Good day! This is my 1st comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout out and say I genuinely enjoy reading through your articles. Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that cover the same topics? Thank you!
Wow! This can be one particular of the most helpful blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Excellent. I am also an expert in this topic so I can understand your hard work.
I do accept as true with all the ideas you’ve offered in your post. They are really convincing and will definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are too brief for beginners. May you please lengthen them a bit from next time? Thanks for the post.
I think this is among the most significant information for me. And i am glad reading your article. But want to remark on some general things, The site style is great, the articles is really excellent : D. Good job, cheers
I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I’m not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my trouble. You’re amazing! Thanks!
Greetings from Colorado! I’m bored to tears at work so I decided to check out your blog on my iphone during lunch break. I love the knowledge you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m surprised at how fast your blog loaded on my phone .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyhow, very good blog!
I have seen many useful points on your site about computer systems. However, I have got the viewpoint that laptops are still not quite powerful enough to be a option if you often do things that require many power, for example video touch-ups. But for net surfing, word processing, and quite a few other frequent computer work they are perfectly, provided you do not mind the tiny screen size. Many thanks sharing your ideas.
I do enjoy the way you have presented this problem plus it does give me some fodder for consideration. Nevertheless, through just what I have personally seen, I simply just hope when the comments stack on that men and women continue to be on issue and not start upon a soap box associated with some other news of the day. Yet, thank you for this excellent piece and even though I can not agree with this in totality, I value your perspective.
Hey there You have done a fantastic job I will certainly digg it and personally recommend to my friends Im confident theyll be benefited from this site
Hi there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it hard to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to start. Do you have any points or suggestions? With thanks
The first thing is to know your niche.
Every other thing will fall in place.
This design is incredible! You certainly know how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Fantastic job. I really enjoyed what you had to say, and more than that, how you presented it. Too cool!
Do you mind if I quote a few of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your site? My blog site is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would really benefit from some of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this alright with you. Thank you!
Go ahead.
You are welcome.
I’m really impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the excellent quality writing, it is rare to see a great blog like this one nowadays..
excellent put up, very informative. I wonder why the other specialists of this sector don’t realize this. You must proceed your writing. I’m confident, you have a great readers’ base already!
Hello I am so excited I found your blog page, I really found you by mistake, while I was looking on Yahoo for something else, Anyways I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a tremendous post and a all round exciting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to go through it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot more, Please do keep up the excellent job.
Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I get actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Any way I?ll be subscribing to your feeds and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.
It’s best to take part in a contest for among the best blogs on the web. I will advocate this website!
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your posts as long as I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My website is in the exact same niche as yours and my visitors would genuinely benefit from a lot of the information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you. Thanks!
Its okay.
Thank you.
It?s exhausting to search out educated folks on this topic, however you sound like you realize what you?re speaking about! Thanks
I?d must examine with you here. Which isn’t one thing I normally do! I enjoy studying a post that may make folks think. Also, thanks for allowing me to remark!
This site doesn’t show up appropriately on my i phone – you might wanna try and repair that
Thank you.
I will look in this. Thank you
Undeniably believe that which you said. Your favorite justification seemed to be on the internet the easiest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people think about worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks
This is really interesting, You are a very skilled blogger. I’ve joined your feed and look forward to seeking more of your wonderful post. Also, I have shared your website in my social networks!