Main Cost-Driving Factors of a Web Data Scraping Service

Web data scraping is not just confined to copying and pasting data. There is more to it. Web data scraping involves a complex process with multiple layers. These layers exist between targeting the sources and extracting data that’s usable. There are several factors that determine the cost of a web data scraping service. Here’s a list of few of those factors

1.Volume of Data

Volume of data is one of the most vital factors that determine the cost of web data scraping. The higher the volume, the higher the cost can be. This is because your web data scraping services provider might need to take help of 3rd party services. This could be a proxy provider, for instance. These factors lead to a costlier IP set which adds to the cost. Large volume of data brings in the risk of getting blocked because of the attention your footprint on the source draws.

2.Frequency

Frequency is an important a factor as volume. Exactly like volume, the possibility of you getting blocked increases as the frequency increases. More frequent scraping of data requires more hardware and hence it becomes another cost-driving factor.

3.Number of Sites

The higher the number of websites, the higher will be the cost of web scraping service. This is because data extraction completely depends on the types of sources as well as the structure of data. Data structure might differ and it may call for some level of customization which adds to the overall cost. Customization requires skilled labour. So, if you are looking to extract data from a good number of websites, you will need to make a good investment as well.

4.Maintenance 

In web-scraping, most of the websites change pretty frequently. This calls for crawling scripts to change accordingly to keep up the right flow and format. Maintenance thus becomes another cost driving factor of a web scraping service. 

Final Word

The factors mentioned above are some of the most decisive factors, but that’s not it. There are several other factors that determine the cost of a web scraping service. You may come across web data scraping service providers which might offer an astonishingly low price, but with compromised accuracy of data and usability which won’t do any good to your business.
Should you need more information about how you can find a sweet spot between budget and usable data extraction, feel free to get in touch with us and we will be more than happy to answer your queries.