How web scraping actually works - and why AI changes everything
Briefly

Web scraping involves extracting data from accessible web pages, differentiating it from APIs and databases. Businesses, especially in competitive markets, employ web scraping for efficient price monitoring and data collection without manual effort. However, the rise of AI scraping introduces risks that can undermine site traffic and data integrity. In response, companies are adopting measures like licensing, paywalls, and crawler blocks to safeguard their content and deter unauthorized scraping, indicating a battle between data sharing and data security in the digital landscape.
Web scraping is the practice of extracting data from live web pages that the public sees when visiting a website. This differs from acquiring data via available APIs or databases.
When facing competition in pricing, automated web scraping allows companies to monitor competitors’ prices efficiently and respond to market challenges swiftly without manual data collection.
Despite the benefits of web scraping, companies implement licensing agreements, paywalls, and crawler blocks to prevent unauthorized data extraction, highlighting the ongoing conflict between data accessibility and protection.
AI scraping poses significant risks by potentially bypassing traffic returns, leading businesses to adapt by enhancing security measures to protect their online data resources.
Read at ZDNET
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