Parsing and custom parsers

Parsing is an automated process of collecting information, processing and analyzing it. Accordingly, the programs that are used are called parsers.

The data parser collects and parses information received from the World Wide Web. It allows you to significantly simplify and speed up the process of searching for content of any kind and for any purpose – the type and parameters of the collected data depend on the settings of the parser. That is, it can be content of absolutely any kind – phone numbers, texts on a specific topic, including posts on social networks, advertisements for the sale of goods of a certain type, auction lots with specified parameters, goods or services, and people’s profiles.

Parsing programs are used very widely to solve marketing problems, when filling online stores, for search engine optimization of resources.

In order for the parser to work correctly, it needs to set parameters and a data source – usually an Internet resource or a group of such resources. In principle, all the work of a parser can be performed by a human user, it is just that parsers cope with it many times faster.

Parsing programs are made to order, since the parser algorithms are created for specific specific tasks. Parser search scripts are configured for a site or a group of sites with which the customer works. In addition, a custom-made parser program may form part of a customer’s trade secret. That is why universal parsers, although they exist, have limited functionality. To solve specific narrow tasks in any area of ​​business, it makes sense to order parsing professionals who will create and configure a parser in exact accordance with your needs.

When searching for data, the parser program is guided by the semantic information specified by the developers: keywords and whole phrases, numeric values, and customizable templates. The parser saves the data obtained during the search, also in a predefined form, convenient for searching. It can be a tabular format for Excel or a format that is understandable for databases (.sql). Or, saving in the format of a hypertext markup language HTML, which will allow you to quickly export the collected data to any system for further use, for example, CMS. All this is negotiated at the stage of discussing the technical task and working out the design (that is, the principles of the algorithms) of the parser.

The parser can collect data both in automatic mode and with manual settings – the specific implementation depends on the technical task. For example, a parser can be configured to collect information as often as required by the customer. The main limitation on the work of the parser is represented by resources that are reliably protected by developers from copying information. In addition, moving or deleting the resource from which the parsing is performed will stop its work. At the request of the user, the parser can be configured to automatically publish the found data on the site. In this case, the results are written to the database and displayed in a specific place in the HTML layout.

What can be parsed

With the help of a properly configured parser, it is possible to parse a wide variety of data types:

• photographs and other types of images – it is important to understand that the parser is not a machine learning solution and searches for images by analyzing their metadata written in text form, rather than analyzing the image itself;
• search for ads from thematic sites;
• parsing information from social networks: Facebook, Instagram;
• e-mail addresses and other contact information – useful for organizing e-mail newsletters;
• prices for certain goods or groups of goods – this information will be useful for marketers to determine marketing policy;
• news on various keywords from around the world – for news Telegram channels and sites;
• CSV, Excel, XML files, databases;
• Other information, the parsing of which does not violate laws and international agreements.

Instead of manual processing, it is better to order the development of a parser from us. This solution has many advantages. First, the parser processes thousands of Internet pages in a minute. Secondly, the automation of the processes of storing, processing and using (for example, placing in the form) of parsing data saves a lot of man-hours. Thirdly, the parser can receive more structured information than a person, due to the identification of patterns that are not obvious to a person in accordance with the algorithm.

Parsers are widely used by real estate agents who need to be aware of the dynamically changing market – the parser monitors tens of thousands of ads of individuals, which physically not a single person can. Parsers collect information about goods to fill the pages of online stores with characteristics – this is much more efficient and cheaper than imprisoning individual managers for such work. For SEO specialists, the parser will analyze links from search engines for specific queries. Also, parsers collect data from sites of weather forecast, exchange rates, etc. for posting on news portals.

AVADA MEDIA offers the development of parsers for various fields of activity – our parsers can be configured to search for almost any data, even those that are not indexed by common search engines. With our parser, you can get useful information for business in any area.