A scraper is a tool or program that collects information from websites automatically. It “scrapes” data from web pages, such as prices, product details, news, or contact information.
People use scrapers when they need to gather lots of online data quickly without copying it by hand. For example, a business might use a scraper to track competitor prices, or a researcher might use one to collect public information from many pages.
Meaning & Usage
In everyday use, “scraper” usually means a web scraping tool. It visits web pages and pulls out useful data for later use. The term can also mean a physical tool that scrapes something off a surface, but online, it usually refers to data collection.
Examples
“We used a scraper to collect product prices from several online stores.”
“The scraper pulled email addresses and company names from the directory.”
What does a scraper do?
A scraper automatically gathers data from websites and saves it in a usable format.
Is a scraper legal?
It depends on the website and how the data is collected. Some sites allow it, while others do not.
Why do people use scrapers?
People use them to save time and collect large amounts of online data quickly.
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