Every day, more than 40,000 search queries are carried out on Google. This makes Google the most used search engine in the world.
Most of these queries involve getting information from different websites around the world. Individuals do some, while the majority of it is done by businesses and brands who need the data that is returned to make critical business decisions and create business insights and intelligence.
Hence, scraping data from multiple websites is no longer a fancy concept but a necessity to strive and dominate the business world.
Currently, there are several ways and tools you can use to scrape multiple websites, and the most sophisticated tools offer automation which essentially eliminates the overwhelming burden that comes with large-scale data extraction.
Tools such as Puppeteer, built and managed by a team at Google, help companies collect data from several sources in the easiest and most automated ways possible.
Today, we will briefly consider what Puppeteer is and how you can become great at using it through Puppeteer tutorial. Get more info on how Puppeteer functions here.
Table of Contents
A Description of Web Scraping
Web scraping can be defined as the general concept of using bots and other tools to scrape data from multiple websites.
The bots help to automate the process making it more convenient and effective. Without this automation, not only will the process be slow and cumbersome, but the results may also be filled with errors and less reliable.
Other tools used for this important task include proxies that help clear the path and remove restrictions such as IP blocks and CAPTCHA tests that may impede web scraping.
The data harvested during web scraping can be applied in so many ways, including monitoring the brand and protecting it against infringement and reputational damages, as well as monitoring the competition and market to understand key issues like current trends.
It is only by collecting so much data that a brand can make the best decisions and dominate its market while increasing revenue.
Defining Puppeteer and Puppeteer Tutorial
Puppeteer can be defined as a library used for running JavaScript remotely on a headless browser. It is developed and managed by a team of developers at Google and primarily runs using Chromium or Chrome.
It automates web scraping and website testing and is popularly used because it allows users to access and render JavaScript easily.
And because it can allow you full control over headless Chrome and offer you its full functionality without having to deal with DevTools protocols, this library is considered incredibly useful to anyone who runs data collection or web testing frequently.
Other additional attractions include the few lines of code it requires, plus the ability to switch and select locations to prevent certain restrictions during crucial online operations.
Puppeteer tutorial is a brief course that you will need to take if you are new to Puppeteer or programming in general, as it will equip you with the right set of skills to harness this tool properly.
Why the Unique Features of Puppeteer Are Important to Web Scraping
Puppeteer, as we can see above, has some unique attributes that may not be found in other popular libraries, and this makes it very beneficial for web scraping.
Below are a few common features that make this library an important tool for performing web scraping:
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Automation
Because of the overwhelming nature of data extraction, any tool that guarantees automation is often regarded as important.
Web scraping is stressful and difficult to maintain manually, but it can also offer less than accurate results when performed traditionally.
Puppeteer solves both problems by ensuring that automation is provided. This way, you can write the codes and then run their course quickly, thereby saving you time and effort and giving you the most accurate and relevant results.
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Remote Operation
Tools that require you to interact with their frontend before using them often need you to understand their DevTools setup and how to manipulate it.
This is too much work, especially for those with a basic background in programming.
Puppeteer, on the other hand, is a preferred choice for web scraping because it cuts away all that work by letting you run the browser remotely. This means it allows you to use the full capacity of the browser without understanding the DevTools protocols.
Anyone can use Puppeteer to perform web scraping, especially after completing a simple Puppeteer tutorial.
How to Set Up Scraping With Puppeteer
To use Puppeteer, you must first know how to set it up. And the segment below summarizes the steps you will need to take to do this:
- Download and install the framework, Node.js
- Install the Node Package Manager (NPM) and other dependencies
- Create a project folder or directory where all the data will be stored
- Install the Puppeteer library using the command line, then include the target URL
- Launch the script and extract the data you need before parsing and converting it to your favorite format
- Convert to JSON format and save in the available storage unit
Conclusion
While Puppeteer can mimic every human action and perform a wide range of online operations, it is commonly used for web scraping.
But using it requires doing some Puppeteer tutorial to gain adequate knowledge, but once this is done, you can use Puppeteer to get data from any website on the internet.
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