This article shall address these concerns – What is a Craigslist scraper? How to scrape Craigslist or why a Craigslist scraper is used? What does scraping Craigslist actually do? – Read the article to know everything about scraping Craigslist!
Before starting you must have an idea about Web Scraping, which is a term used to extract and process large amounts of data from the Internet. Some websites are easier to scrape, while others require extensive skills and Craigslist is one of the most difficult websites to scrape.
Why People Scrape Craigslist?
People scrape Craigslist for a variety of reasons. Look at your various options so you will know what to do with the data that you collect from the site. Keep in mind that these are just some options. If you want to use the data in a way that isn’t listed, feel free to move forward with your plan. There are lots of ways to use the data, so find a way that works best for you.
- Personal Reasons
- Commercial Reasons
- To turn a Profit
- Lead generation
- To determine the price
How To Scrape Craigslist Successfully Without Getting Blocked
To avoid being blocked, you have to avoid being recognized as a bot and so, try to have behavior and tools that match a human’s one as close as possible.
There is a whirlpool of approaches to apply when scraping or crawling websites for data, in order to avoid any form of blocks, CAPTCHA verification or anything that could hinder or slow down your data scraping process.
Some of these approaches include the use of
- IP rotation
- Dedicated IP
- Private IP
- Use of anonymous scraping tools
- Use of certain browser extensions that’ll prevent blocks
- Avoid Free Proxies
- Subnet Diversity
- Consider the server’s location
- Make sure the proxy works with the software you choose
Among all of these techniques to avoid being blocked or requested to verify your identity while scraping data from any site, the most efficient to a high degree is the use of any anonymous proxy crawler.
This is because, with the use of an anonymous web scraper you won’t need to have your own IP or any of those features, the scraper handles the scraping aspect for you, all you get is the result.
Available Craigslist Scrapers in the Market
Here is the list of Best Residential IPs Proxies For Craigslist Scraping
- CraigsDominator
- PhantomBuster
- Ultimate Scraper Pro
- Craigslist Scraper
- Craigslist Automation Software
Choosing the Right Craigslist Scraper: PROS and CONS
Your goal should be to choose a scraper that will enable you to harvest all the information you need.
Free Proxies
Don’t allow you to use more than one connection at any given time. Thus, to change your IP you need to disconnect the VPN client from its server and reconnect again. Free vpn lets you choose your location, but not the IP address used.
- A single connection to an unverified IP address (You don’t know what IP you’ll be allocated)
- You can’t choose the IP address – A VPN connects you to a server from a particular city, but to a particular gateway IP
Private Proxies
A private proxy is the kind of a proxy server which is specifically being used by one person at a time. This proxy server hides your IP address and makes it untraceable. This means that if you’re using a private proxy, your IP address becomes masked, masking your IP address given to you by your local ISP.
- Use multiple dedicated IPs at the same time
- Ability to easily choose the proxy IP address