How to Use Data Extraction APIs for Web Scraping

Data extraction APIs have become essential tools for businesses looking to gather web data efficiently. The general scraper functionality offered by modern web scraping platforms provides a straightforward way to extract data from virtually any website.

Once you sign up and access your personal dashboard, you’ll find the general scraper section where you can utilize the data extraction API. Using it is simple – just copy and paste the URL of the website you want to scrape and click the try button. The API will make a request to that URL and retrieve the complete HTML of the target page.

Integration options are versatile, with ready-to-use code snippets available for Python, Java, Node, Ruby, and other programming environments. This flexibility allows you to seamlessly incorporate the API into your existing workflow and scrape unlimited pages from your target websites.

By default, the API returns HTML data, but it can also extract JSON when scraping backend APIs from specific domains. Advanced features include:

• JavaScript Rendering: For websites where data is only accessible with JS rendering enabled, you can set the dynamic parameter to true.
• Geolocation Options: Premium features allow you to select from over 150 countries to retrieve location-specific data.
• Structured Data Extraction: Using queries and extraction rules, you can pull specific structured data from HTML or convert it to JSON format.

This comprehensive solution works for popular websites like Zillow, Idealista, Walmart, Amazon, and virtually any other online platform, making it a versatile tool for various data collection needs.