Web scraping is the process of extracting data from websites. It involves using automated tools or scripts to gather information from web pages, typically in structured formats like HTML, JSON, or XML. Web scraping allows users to collect large amounts of data from multiple websites quickly and efficiently, for purposes such as data analysis, research, or content aggregation.
Web scraping relies on parsing the webpage’s HTML structure to extract content and links to follow other webpages. There are many scraping tools, libraries as well as online scraping services available to facilitate web scraping.
It’s important to note that web scraping raises ethical and legal considerations, as some website owners may view it as a violation of their terms of service or intellectual property rights. Therefore, it’s essential for web scrapers to respect website policies, use scraping techniques responsibly, and obtain permission when necessary.