Parsing (web scraping) is an automated collection of open information on the Internet according to specified conditions. Data can be parsed from websites, search results, forums and social networks, portals and aggregators. In this article we will deal with parsers of sites.
It is often necessary to obtain and analyze a large amount of technical and commercial information posted on your projects or competitors' sites. Parsers are indispensable for collecting such data - programs or services that "pull out" the necessary information and present it in a structured form.
Parsers save time on collecting large amounts of data and grouping them into the right form. Such services are used by Internet marketers, webmasters, SEO-specialists, and employees of sales departments.
Parsers can perform the following tasks:
Who and for what purposes require parsers, figured out. If you need this tool, there are several ways to get it.
With the first and last options, everything is clear. But choosing from ready-made solutions can take much time. We made this task easy and reviewed the tools.
Parsers can be classified according to various criteria.
Let's analyze parsers on different grounds, and dwell on parsers by appointment.
Parsers sites by the method of access to the interface
Cloud services do not require installation on a PC. All data is stored on the servers of the developers, you download only the result of parsing. The software is accessed through a web interface or API.
Examples of cloud parsers
In order not to make a mistake when choosing a parsing software or cloud service, you need to understand the range of tasks they solve. We have divided parsers by their areas of application.
Parsers for Joint Purchases (JV) Organizers
The separate category of parsers is intended for those who are engaged in the organization of joint purchases in the social networks VKontakte and Odnoklassniki. The owners of JV groups buy batches of goods in small bulk at a price cheaper than the retail price. To do this, you need to constantly monitor the assortment and prices on the sites of suppliers. To reduce labor costs, you can use specialized parsers.
Such parsers have a simple, intuitive control panel interface, where you can specify the necessary settings - pages for parsing, schedule, groups in social networks for unloading and others.
Examples of services:
This group of parsers allows the prices in the online store to remain at the level of the market. These services monitor selected resources, compare products and their prices to your catalog and provide an opportunity to adjust the price to a more attractive one. Such parsers monitor competitors' sites, updated price lists in XLS(X), CSV and other formats, marketplaces (Yandex.Market, e-katalog and other price aggregators).
Examples of competitor price parsers:
These parsers simplify the work of online store content managers by replacing manual monitoring of suppliers' websites, comparing and changing assortments, descriptions and prices. The parser collects data from suppliers' sites (product names and descriptions, prices, images, etc.) and uploads it to a file or directly to the site. The settings have the ability to make a markup, to combine data from multiple sites, to run data collection in automatic mode on a schedule or manually.
Examples of parsers for filling online stores: