Parsing: What Is It and Can You Be Fined for It?

Parsing is a method for automatically extracting and organizing relevant information from websites. Special scripts (parsers) scan resources according to specified criteria and collect data. This process is also called web scraping.

A web scraping tool. Source: netpeaksoftware.com

The parser is provided with instructions on where to find the necessary information. It searches based on a list of websites or other parameters. Then, the parser extracts data: text, links, or prices. The extracted data is then transformed, for example, into a table or by removing unnecessary code. Next, analysis is performed.

Why Website Parsing is Used

• To target advertising. Parsing is useful for compiling a database of potential customers for targeted advertising and finding suitable platforms.
• To research competitors. Website parsing collects data on products, prices, and marketing strategies of your competitors. You track changes in product range or cost and identify strengths and weaknesses. This way, you will find out what price to set for your product. If a competitor has lowered the price, you should too.
• To improve content. Parsing collects information that can be used to improve website content. You can also use parsers to conduct content analysis of competitors' resources.
• To work on SEO. With the help of parsing, you collect keywords to optimize your site, analyze search results, and find errors on your site that interfere with promotion. Parsers will analyze search prompts and help attract more traffic. In addition, the tools will look through the entire site and find all broken links leading to pages that do not exist. This will improve the user experience.
• To conduct a comprehensive analysis. Parsing integrates with the services you need to automatically collect data on budgets and transactions. This way, you can find out if your campaigns are paying off.
• To understand or find an audience. Parsing will analyze posts, comments, and messages on social networks. This will help you understand what topics your users are interested in and evaluate the effectiveness of content marketing. Parsing finds subscribers according to the required criteria, for example, those who comment a lot in the groups of your competitors. Use this audience for targeted advertising.
• To monitor reviews. Companies that track their reputation in search engines often use parsers to find new feedback about the brand. This allows managers to respond to it promptly.

Can you be fined for parsing?

In general, parsing is legal. This way, you automate the process of collecting data that you could find yourself in any case. If the information is available, then collecting it is not prohibited.

However, there are some limitations that you need to be aware of:

Parsing websites to overload their servers is illegal. This excessive pressure using a parser can often crash the website and is considered a type of DDoS attack. DDoS attacks can lead to a $500,000 fine, according to the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Using parsed data for spam emails is prohibited. This can result in a fine of up to $51,744 for each message.

You cannot collect information for plagiarism. Do not steal other people's content, as this leads to copyright infringement.

You cannot use parsing to collect customer bases or protected data. Penalties for such violations vary depending on the specific circumstances but can be substantial.

Before using parsers on any website, it is recommended to see its rules. In some cases, owners prohibit parsing on their sites.

Benefits of Parsing

1. Saves time. Web scraping significantly speeds up the collection of information that would otherwise have to be collected manually. This allows you to get started with analyzing the obtained materials and making decisions faster.
2. Accuracy and flexibility. You choose what data to collect, ensuring it's accurate and relevant to your specific needs. Get only the information you truly need.
3. Minimizes errors. Parsing tools eliminate human error, significantly reducing problems during data collection. The program runs automatically, following your instructions.
4. Saves money. Using web scraping reduces data collection costs. Instead of hiring a large number of employees, you entrust this task to one script.

Drawbacks of Parsing

1. Data collection limitations. Some websites are protected from scraping, making it impossible to collect all the necessary information. Resources recognize parser requests by user-agent and block them. Captcha, robots.txt, and IP-based restrictions can significantly hinder the scraping process. To overcome these obstacles, web scrapers often employ VPN services, proxies, and advanced parser configurations.
2. Work instability. With a large number of users on the site, the parser has difficulty updating web pages. This sometimes leads to data loss.
3. Requires monitoring. Scraping requires you to monitor the program's functionality, adjust settings as needed, and update it when necessary.

The Stages of Web Scraping

1. The user starts by formulating a task for the parser. They specify search parameters, such as the price range for a product, the age group of potential buyers, or keywords.
2. Armed with the specified parameters, the parser embarks on its journey through the vast expanse of the internet. It automatically scans websites and gathers relevant information. With proper configuration, this stage can be completed in just a few minutes. A vast amount of data is collected, which would otherwise take hours to manually search for.
3. Once gathered, all extracted data is organized. The information is sorted according to a predefined criterion, whether it's a numerical value, letters, or any other relevant attribute. For instance, parsing customer data generates a structured table where information is categorized based on factors like age, gender, city of residence, and other pertinent characteristics.
4. Upon completion of the scraping process, a report is generated. This report can be saved in a suitable format, such as CSV or XML.

Types of Parsing

• Product parsing automates the process of gathering product information from online marketplace catalogs. The extracted data proves valuable for analyzing competitor offerings or enriching your website's product pages.
• Price parsing serves as a tool for monitoring competitors' pricing strategies and tracking price trends.
• SEO parsing examines the semantic core (list of keywords) of the desired resources. With this information, you can implement keywords on your website and optimize contextual advertising. You can also find typos in meta tags, broken links, and other errors on your resource.
• Contact info parsing extracts email addresses, phone numbers, and other similar information from publicly available sources.
• Target audience parsing identifies potential customers, particularly among social media users. This provides you with data about individuals (preferences and demographic characteristics) and allows you to tailor targeted advertising that is highly relevant to your target audience.
• Search result parsing is a method for collecting information about websites that rank high for specific keywords. With this method, you can gain valuable insights, including snippet types, titles, meta descriptions, and related keywords. This information is typically used to assess the effectiveness of your SEO efforts compared to competitors or to identify suitable platforms for advertising. Placing ads on websites that rank well for relevant keywords provides access to a wider audience of potential customers,

What to Use for Parsing

A parser is a program that collects information for you. Here are a few options:

• Import.io allows you to quickly parse data, save it in a convenient CSV format, and generate APIs. All of this is done through the application. The downside is the high cost of use ($399/month).
• Parsehub is a simple and, most importantly, free desktop parser. It collects the data you need from any JavaScript or Ajax page. No special skills are required to extract the data.
• Skrapp.io is a convenient email address parser. It has a free version that includes 100 email searches per month. Paid plans start at $39 per month.
• NetPeak Spider is a desktop service that analyzes the resources you need in just a few minutes (for $69 per month). A free trial period is available.
• Webscraper.io is a tool for extracting a large amount of data from the most complex websites. A free Chrome plugin is available.

Conclusion

Parsing is a method of automatically extracting data from various sources: websites, social networks, databases, etc. It saves you time and resources, provides up-to-date information for solving tasks in business, marketing, analytics, and other areas.

Parsing programs automate the collection of data and free up time for more important tasks. They provide access to up-to-date information, which gives you a competitive advantage. Due to its scalability, parsing allows you to work with large amounts of information from various sources. It is a versatile tool.

However, when using parsing, it is important to comply with the law and to make sure that it is allowed to collect data from the selected resources. It is also necessary to act ethically, respect privacy, and not use information for malicious purposes.