Oxylabs Co-Founds The Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative to Promote Industry Best Practices

Scraping the Surface: Why Ethical Standards Matter in the Booming Web Data Collection Industry

The internet provides endless opportunities for innovation, competition and progress through the abundance of publicly available data. Web scraping technology unlocks this value – serving as a foundational tool for companies and researchers seeking real-time, large-scale data extraction and analysis.

As web scraping grows more pervasive across sectors, Oxylabs is leading efforts to establish ethical norms and best practices for aggregating web data responsibly. They recently co-founded the Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI), recognizing that public trust depends on accountable, community-focused standards in this emerging industry.

In this guide, we‘ll explore the world of web scraping and its applications, why principles like those promoted by the EWDCI matter, and how organizations can leverage web data extraction to gain market insights while respecting digital information sources.

What is Web Scraping? A Primer

Web scraping, also known as web data extraction or web harvesting, is the process of systematically pulling data from websites in an automated fashion. Using specialized software tools and proxy servers, organizations can scrape expansive amounts of public information from the web for analysis.

With origins in the early 2000s, web scraping technology has grown increasingly sophisticated over the past two decades. Where early scraping focused on simple harvesting of textual data from sites, today‘s advanced solutions can scrape almost any digitized information.

Modern web scraping encompasses gathering structured and unstructured data like:

• Product details and pricing
• Imagery and multimedia
• Reviews and discussions
• Local business listings
• Social media profiles and posts
• Real estate listings
• Job openings and descriptions

This data extraction occurs programmatically, leveraging automated bots, scrapers and proxy networks. Teams no longer need to rely on tedious manual copying and pasting for digital data aggregation.

The Scale of the Web Scraping Industry

Industry analyst firm ResearchAndMarkets projects the global web scraping services market to grow from $1.6 billion in 2019 to over $6.5 billion by 2027. This over 300% estimated growth demonstrates web scraping‘s expanding role across sectors.

Organizations of all sizes and industries leverage web scraping for market and competitive intelligence, business strategy, academic research and monitoring brand reputation. It allows timely gathering of digital information at a scale not feasible manually.

"Web data is the heart and soul of the 21st century economy," says Alykhan Ismail, EVP at Coresignal, a founding EWDCI member. "Billions of dollars are transacted thanks to public web data, and it’s estimated that 70-80% of all business data comes from unstructured web information."

What Drives the Need for Ethical Standards?

As web scraping becomes more mainstream, standards are required to build public trust and ensure responsible data collection. Like any emerging technology, web scraping comes with risks if used improperly:

• Scraping confidential or non-public information
• Disregarding sites‘ terms of service
• Overwhelming sites with bot traffic
• Scraping data for unethical purposes

This calls for norms around respecting sites‘ wishes, minimizing resource usage, and gathering data only for legitimate analytics needs. The EWDCI seeks to define such standards for the web scraping industry.

"We have to make sure that this powerful technology continues enabling innovation through properly governed access to public data. Guidelines allow us to scale the technology confidently," said Gabriel Jurkiewicz, CEO of scraping provider Zyte.

Use Cases Driving Web Scraping‘s Ethical Standards

When performed legally and ethically, web scraping provides significant economic and social benefits across diverse use cases:

Competitive Intelligence Fuels Innovation

E-commerce companies leverage web scrapers to pull pricing data from rival brands. This competitive intelligence allows dynamic pricing algorithms that benefit consumers through market-driven savings. It also helps retailers optimize strategy by analyzing competitors‘ product assortments, marketing tactics and more.

A 2020 McKinsey survey found 90% of executives believe COVID-19 will create significant disruptions for their industries. Ongoing uncertainty places a premium on real-time market intelligence to inform decisions and strategy.

"Web data is crucial for innovation," emphasizes Alykhan Ismail of Coresignal. "It provides full transparency so companies can quickly adapt to changes in demand, supply dynamics and competitive forces."

Frequent Data Refresh Powers Digital Discovery

Job, real estate and local business data aggregators, like Zillow and Indeed, rely on web scraping to source comprehensive listings. This high-velocity data feeds matching algorithms and platforms that connect users to relevant opportunities and information.

"Without web data, many of these services simply wouldn‘t exist," notes Gabriel Jurkiewicz of Zyte. He cites real estate portals as a prime example, where consumers expect accurate, up-to-date listings. This necessitates frequently scraping data from thousands of sources – achievable only through automated extraction.

Researchers Gain Holistic Insights

Web scraping grants researchers access to expansive datasets for analysis on topics like public health, climate change and human rights concerns. As just one example, in 2020 a team of 40 researchers leveraged web scraped mobility data to model COVID-19 containment strategies across 134 countries. This enabled nuanced public policy recommendations grounded in real-world behaviors.

Such research provides societal value but depends on scraping standards that minimize site disruption. "We must innovate without compromising the underlying digital ecosystem," urged Christian Dawson, i2Coalition Executive Director, in announcing the EWDCI.

Brands Monitor Reputation and Safeguard IP

Organizations use web data extraction to monitor brand mentions online. This allows detecting customer service issues, neighborhood reputation concerns and reviews requiring response. On the protection side, web scraping helps detect fraudulent use of trademarks, ensuring only authorized sellers distribute authentic products.

During the pandemic, one athleisure brand utilized scraping to quickly flag counterfeit mask sales abusing its trademarks. This enabled swift takedown notices to protect customers while reducing IP infringement.

Investors Seek an Edge with Alternative Data

Hedge funds and other financial institutions leverage web scraped data to supplement investment research and decisions. In fact, unstructured web data provides 40% of all alternative data used by investors, according to a 2020 study by Burton-Taylor.

One compelling example isUsing web data to gauge foot traffic trends for retailers. Declining site traffic and engagement might signal coming revenue decreases not yet reflected in financial statements. This provides investors with real-time indicators to supplement traditional valuation models.

Oxylabs: Powering Ethical Web Scraping Globally

Founded in 2015, Oxylabs now provides web scraping solutions to over 300 enterprise clients and 50,000 smaller customers across industries ranging from finance to academia.

The company‘s comprehensive data extraction platform includes services like static residential proxies, web scrappers, and an API for integrated data workflows. Its infrastructure spans over 2 million IP addresses across residential networks in 195 countries.

This enables Oxylabs customers to gather web data at massive scale without overburdening sites. The distributed proxies mimic organic human traffic rather than bot swarms. Customers also use Oxylabs‘ Web Scraper browser extension for more targeted, JavaScript-intensive data extraction.

"At Oxylabs, we believe web scraping conducted ethically provides significant positive contributions for businesses and society," says co-founder Darius Petkevičius. "Being part of shaping the EWDCI aligns with our commitment to enable responsible data collection through quality infrastructure and guidance."

Insights from Oxylabs‘ Web Scraping Expertise

Drawing on over seven years of experience enabling ethical data extraction worldwide, Oxylabs‘ executives provided key insights around trends and opportunities in the web scraping technology landscape:

Evolving Legal Considerations

• "We‘re seeing increased legal scrutiny around web scraping as it becomes more mainstream. But regulations like the EU‘s Database Directive recognize web data extraction as a legitimate practice when done properly," observed Vilius Virkštis, Head of Legal. "That‘s why principles like those the EWDCI develops are so important for lawful, ethical scraping."

Shifting Public Perceptions

• "There are misconceptions about web scraping being unethical by default," said Justas Markūnas, VP of Marketing. "In reality, it powers innovation and progress across industries, from academic studies to consumer price savings. We help customers gather data responsibly."

Technical Capabilities Expanding

• "Where historically web scraping focused on simple data like text and tables, new techniques allow capturing highly dynamic content like video or JavaScript-rendered pages," explained Justinas Šimkus, Head of Data Science. "This enables more holistic analysis but increases the need for responsible collection."

Data Science Evolving

• "Machine learning is being applied more to efficiently extract insights from scraped data at scale," said Vaidas Stankus, Data Science Team Lead. "This expands what organizations can achieve but means we must focus even more on governance, quality and ethics."

Proxy Networks Critical for Success

• "High-performance proxy servers are required to run scrapers efficiently at scale without overwhelming sites," said Aurelijus Blažulionis, VP of Engineering. "Our infrastructure allows executing hundreds of millions of clean requests daily to responsibly deliver our customers‘ data needs."

Joining the Push for Ethical Standards

The web scraping industry recognizes the need for standards as data extraction becomes ubiquitous across sectors. Initiatives like the EWDCI, with backing from providers like Oxylabs, aim to define and promote best practices for accountable, community-focused scraping.

The EWDCI seeks to educate consumers, legislators and companies alike on the responsibilities and opportunities around gathering web data. By developing shared ethical norms, web scraping can continue enabling innovation through safe access to the abundant information available online.

Businesses across industries are encouraged to engage in the conversation and provide input on responsible web scraping guidelines. There are compelling benefits in leveraging web data extraction – such as competitive intelligence, research insights and reputation monitoring. But pursuit of these opportunities necessitates principles and practices that earn public trust.

Balancing innovation with stewardship will enable ethical data collection to scale sustainably. As Christian Dawson urged: "The public deserves digital peace of mind, and ‘scraping‘ doesn’t have to be a dirty word when it is done responsibly."