Introduction to Web Scraping
Businesses need better information to target and reach wider audiences. They get this information by scraping the web for content from social media platforms, eCommerce platforms, video platforms, travel platforms, review and ratings, and more.
Web scraping is simply collecting information and data from around the web. It can be done manually, but this is complicated and time-consuming. Automatic web scraping is great, but there are some tricky problems that can arise when you try bulk scraping web data:
- some websites block web scrapers or limit the number of requests per second
- some content may be rendered dynamically in the browser and may not appear in a scraper
Here is where the scrapestack API comes in! With scrapestack, you don’t have to worry about the tricky programming issues that arise because they are handled by the API provider.
Using the scrapestack API, you can quickly and efficiently scrape web pages worldwide in milliseconds and turn them into actionable data that you can put to good use. All you need is to input a website URL and the results will be revealed.
There’s a reason why the scrapestack API is trusted by over 2000 satisfied customers. You won’t have to worry about IP blocks, proxy-related issues, geolocation, or strategies like IP rotation or retries again.
What Is the scrapestack API?
scrapestack is an API service that allows customers to scrape websites efficiently at unparalleled speeds without having to worry about technical issues like proxies, IP blocking, geo-targeting, CAPTCHA solving and more. Simply send a valid URL and the scrapestack API will return its full HTML content as a response.
With the scrapestack API, you can scrape:
- social media pages of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
- video platforms like YouTube
- search engines like Google, Bing, and so on
- eCommerce platforms like Amazon, eBay, and more
- travel websites like TripAdvisor and Booking.com
- and many more!
scrapestack is powered by the apilayer cloud infrastructure, making it highly scalable and capable of handling anything from thousands of API requests per month all the way to millions of API requests per minute.
In addition, the API supports a series of features essential to web scraping, such as:
- JavaScript rendering, custom HTTP headers, various geo-targets
- POST/PUT requests
- an option to use premium residential proxies instead of datacenter proxies
What Can You Use the scrapestack API For?
There are so many ways the scrapestack API can help you. The following examples are just the tip of the iceberg.
Building a Business
Aggregator websites are built and sustained by drawing data from thousands of sources. They need to continuously extract data by web scraping otherwise they would not exist. Some examples include comparison websites like Kayak and Booking.com, or job board websites like Monster.com
Lead Generation
With web scraping, you can build a database of business leads and exponentially boost your sales and marketing efforts.
Brand Monitoring
You can extract customer reviews and ratings of your products from multiple platforms and aggregate them. This data will help you implement ways to improve your brand image.
SEO Advantage
You can find out what tags and keywords your competitors use to drive traffic to their website. You can also analyze your SEO to see how your content is performing.
Features: Why Use the scrapestack API?
The scrapestack API boasts 2,000+ satisfied customers, and for a good reason. The answer is in the incredible features. Let’s have a look at some:
35+ Million IPs and Proxies
Tap into an extensive pool of over 35 million proxies and IP addresses worldwide and ensure the highest level of scraping consistency.
195+ Geolocations
The API supports nearly 200 geo-targets worldwide, including eight major cities. Choose your location and start scraping local results right away.
Datacenter and Residential Proxies
Make use of standard datacenter proxies or go for the premium option of using residential proxies that are tied to a real device and residential address, further lowering the risk of getting blocked by the scraping target.
Rock-Solid Cloud Infrastructure
Thanks to the superior cloud infrastructure on which the API is built, you will receive results in lightning fast speeds of milliseconds.
Scalable
Highly scalable, it can handle thousands to millions of API requests per day.
JSON Format
Results are organized in structured data that can be analyzed easily.
Monitoring
The API is closely monitored around the clock to ensure the highest possible level of consistency and availability.
99.9% Uptime
The scrapestack API handles over a billion requests per month and consistently reports the unbeatable record of 99.9% API uptime.
Concurrent Requests
Send concurrent API requests to scrapestack and ensure the highest level of speed every time you use it.
JavaScript Rendering
The API will return HTML data exactly as it would be shown in the browser by rendering JavaScript, which is executed on the target web page.
Superior Security
The scrapestack API uses industry-standard 256-bit HTTPS (SSL) encryption.
Easy Integration
The API is fast and easy to set up. You will be ready to start using it within five minutes. It supports several languages out of the box, including PHP, jQuery, Node.js, Python, Go, and Ruby.
Well Documented
The API comes with extensive documentation to guide you on how to use it.
How It Works
The scrapestack API uses the popular JSON format. Results are organized and displayed in an easy-to-understand format and processed in common languages such as JavaScript.
Using the scrapestack API: An Example
Here is an example of the information returned from a scrapestack API request.
It’s very easy to get set up and start using scrapestack. This short tutorial will show you how.
To get started, first sign up for a free account at scrapestack. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be taken to the scrapestack API quick start screen. From here, you can get your API key and try some example API queries.
Now you can perform a request. The most basic form of request is called “basic request”. Using your API key, you can make a simple API request that scrapes the Apple website as an example.
The quick start guide shows the following format for the query.
If your scraping request was successful, the API will respond with the raw HTML data of your target web page URL. If you have enabled HTTP headers, your API response will also contain the HTTP headers sent along with your original API request.
Here is what an actual response includes: all code within the <head> and <body> sections.
For specific integration guides and code examples, please have a look at the scrapestack API documentation.
Note that requests you make on the free plan are not encrypted, so you must use the HTTP protocol for free requests. If you try to use HTTPS, you will get the message that “Your current subscription plan does not support HTTPS encryption“. If HTTPS is important to you, then you’ll need to go with a paid plan.
Pricing
The scrapestack API has several subscription plans. The Free plan allows you to test the waters to get familiar with the API. It offers the basic functionality of the API, including 1,000 API requests per month and very limited support.
If you need more advanced features such as concurrent requests and access to premium proxies, you can choose from the following subscription plans:
Basic: This plan includes additional features like 200,000 requests per month, unlimited support, HTTPS encryption of all your requests, JavaScript rendering, and over 100 geolocations. The plan costs $19.99 per month, or $15.99 per month if billed yearly.
Professional (Most Popular): On top of all tools available in Basic, you also get 1,000,000 API requests per month. The plan costs $79.99 per month or $63.99 per month if billed yearly.
Business: This plan gives you all the tools available in Professional and 3,000,000 monthly requests. It costs $199.99 per month or $159.99 per month if billed yearly.
Enterprise: If none of the other plans are adequate, you can get custom pricing that’s tailored to your needs.
Conclusion
The scrapestack API is trusted by 2,000+ companies. It allows customers to scrape websites at lightning fast speeds, without having to worry about technical obstacles. It has the most reliable extensive network of 35 million data centers and premium proxies in over 100 countries where customers can send API requests and receive results in milliseconds. It’s built on a rock-solid cloud infrastructure, allowing it to handle over 1 billion requests per month.
If you’re still on the fence, you can try it for free and see if it works for you.
