Diffbot Review

Web Scraping: An Automated Way Of Extracting Data From The Web

Diffbot is a very powerful tool because it leverages the web to help businesses and teams capture all the important data and information they need. The web contains large amounts of data that are scattered across sites, pages, and other areas online. The only problem is that it is not easy to extract data from the web. To understand how important this solution is, let’s discuss its core functionality and find out how it makes the process of extracting data from the web a breeze.

Diffbot employs a technique called web scraping. In this technique, large amounts of data from the web are automatically loaded and extracted. This data, then, can be saved to a file or database. Because web scraping is an automated technique, it eliminates manual data extraction which is usually done by copying and pasting data from the web, a task which is tedious and time-consuming. With Diffbot, users no longer need to do any manual data extraction or Internet research.

Applicable For Various Use Cases

The web data extraction solution can be applied for various use cases. For instance, developers can take advantage of it to generate content for the mobile applications they are building. Marketing teams can also use the solution so they can reach out to their target audiences with the right information, messages, and contents.

Diffbot is an ideal tool for monitoring changes in product pricing across eCommerce websites and marketplaces. Users, moreover, can leverage the solution whenever they are conducting competitor analysis, analyzing what people online are thinking and saying about their brand, or creating a product or article database. Also, Diffbot can be used for hiring purposes, enabling recruitment teams to verify applicant information and find the right candidates.

Doesn’t Need Any Rules And Training

Unlike other web data extraction solutions, Diffbot is easy to set up and implement. Users need not to write page or site-specific rules or train the software. In other words, it can smoothly and automatically perform its job like an autonomous and intelligent person, freeing users from complex configurations and manual processes.

Powered By Artificial Intelligence

Diffbot uses a set of APIs that is powered by Artificial Intelligence. Through the aid of these APIs, the solution automatically extracts clean, structured, normalized, and accurate data from various sources online like articles, discussions, images, videos,  and products. Let us explore the features and capabilities of these APIs.

Automatically Analyzes Web Pages

The web data extraction solution has an API which instantly evaluates web pages and identifies which type they belong to, such as if they are classified as eCommerce, news, or discussion. After the API determines the page type, it automatically routes the page to the appropriate API for data extraction.

Article API That Has Text And Sentiment Analysis Capability

There is also an API designed for extracting information from news articles and blog posts. This API has a native text analysis capability by which it automatically generates topics or tags for the articles or blogs it is extracting information from. Additionally, this capability enables the API to check whether a particular article is saying something positive or negative. It can apply scores to comments included in articles and blogs.

Extracts Comments And Reviews From Discussions

Diffbot can automatically extract comments and reviews from whatever page through the aid of its discussion API. Like the article API, this API also has a text analysis capability, so comments, reviews, and other discussion-related posts are scored automatically, allowing users to determine the sentiment or emotion behind the extracted texts.

API For Image Extraction

Extracting images from pages is made possible, too. This is because Diffbot provides an image API. What’s great about this API is that it has the ability to locate other sites, pages, or areas on the web where the image is also found.

Returns Video Metadata Information

With Diffbot, users will be able to automatically extract metadata information of videos that are posted on video platforms and pages. The metadata information includes the name of the person who created or uploaded the video, the date when the video was uploaded, its title and description, the duration of the video, and its number of views.

Complete And Detailed Product Information

Lastly, Diffbot is built with a product API that returns complete and detailed information about products published on various shopping or eCommerce sites and pages. This API extracts pricing data, product IDs, product descriptions, and even product-related contents like images.

Comprehensive Knowledge Graph

The web data extraction solution delivers a comprehensive knowledge graph that contains accurate and detailed information about different entities which include people, places, companies, organizations, businesses, products, articles, and discussions. But what is a knowledge graph, anyway?

A knowledge graph is a knowledge base wherein information is organized, structured, and presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Google, for instance, has a knowledge graph which can be viewed on the search results page (the box which you can see at the top or right-hand side of the search results page).

The good thing about a knowledge graph is that it highlights interconnected and interrelated information. This means it can show the relationships between entities. Diffbot’s knowledge graph, therefore, helps users discover how entities found on the web are linked with each other. This way, they will be able to make sense of data about various entities better and achieve the flexibility and agility they need when it comes to analyzing information and generating valuable insights from it.

Get The Exact Answers You Need

They can query the knowledge graph to make sure that they get the data that matters most to them. Whether they are looking for new employees, capturing new prospects, or gathering business intelligence; Diffbot’s knowledge graph is built to give them the exact information and answers they need.

Web Crawling Tool

Diffbot comes with a web crawler tool called Crawlbot. Crawlbot streamlines data extraction because it has the ability to extract multiple pieces of information from an entire site all at once. For example, this tool can be paired with the product API which enables users to automatically extract all products along with the associated product information found on a particular eCommerce site.

Moreover, because Crawlbot is a web crawling or web spidering tool, it is very useful for indexing purposes, which is one of the main function of a typical web crawler or web spider. Therefore, it can index site or page data in a structured manner. Users can also configure this tool to define which specific pages they want the tool to crawl and extract information from as well how often crawling activities should be executed. Crawlbot also generates an auditable record of all the past crawling activities it has performed. If users want the tool to re-crawl a particular site, that is made possible as well.