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In 2006, British mathematician Clive Humby coined the phrase "data is the new oil." He pointed out that "much like oil, data holds significant value," meaning that big data’s potential remains untapped without proper structure and refinement. Over the next 18 years, more companies started collecting large amounts of data to get a bird’s eye view of the competition, unlock new growth opportunities, and explore the ever-changing user behavior. And in the AI era, more businesses are exploring the ability to employ robots to do their time-wasting data collection tasks.

Online marketplaces are beloved for offering everything from items we don’t need to treasures we didn’t know we were missing. For music lovers and collectors, Discogs stands out as the go-to destination – think of it as the IMDb of music records. Whether you're analyzing vinyl market trends, tracking the value of rare releases, or building a personal archive, Discogs is an unmatched resource. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to scrape Discogs using Python, step by step, to unlock the data behind the music.

Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI), an international consortium of web data aggregation business leaders whose co-founder is Decodo, has recently published an insightful Q&A session with our CEO, Vytautas Savickas.

Proxies function as intermediaries that handle online connections, traffic, and client requests. Because they can be implemented in diverse ways, ranging from simple privacy filters to advanced data managers, there are multiple categories of proxies. Some classifications relate to the device hosting the proxy or how the proxy enforces anonymity, while others focus on its structural role in the client-server relationship. The latter is how we distinguish between forward and reverse proxies. Many people ask how these two proxy types differ, and it can be confusing at first glance. With a clearer look at how each one manages data flow, you’ll see why they are essential tools for both individual internet users and large-scale enterprise environments.

According to Markets and Markets research, the AdTech market is projected to grow from $579.4B (2023) to $1496.2B by 2030, with an annual growth rate of 14.5%. As the ad verification landscape accelerates, so does the need to collect publicly available real-time data.

In this guide, we’ll explore the essential strategies and techniques required to maintain ad integrity, combat fraud, and maximize campaign performance in this ever-changing industry. Our marketing experts gathered all the best practices

Social media has turned the internet into a marketplace for digital assets. As buying fake followers faded out, demand shifted toward purchasing Instagram accounts with real audiences. In recent years, this market has grown rapidly. Buying an established account can give brands and marketers a head start, providing instant reach on one of today’s most powerful advertising platforms.

When using Python's Requests library, proxies can help with tasks like web scraping, interacting with APIs, or accessing geo-restricted content. Proxies route HTTP requests through different IP addresses, helping you avoid IP bans, maintain anonymity, and bypass restrictions. This guide covers how to set up and use proxies with the Requests library. Let’s get started!

Standards are a means to clear and define communication between people and things in the world. For example, the human language, USB sockets on computers, or the fact that you must add cereal before pouring milk. When it comes to computer applications and systems, one standard stands out above the rest as the most popular choice for developers – XML (eXtensible Markup Language). In this article, we’ll explore how you can parse data from XML files using Python’s built-in libraries, see the best methods to do so, and understand the importance of effectively reading information.

Since its first hints in the 1960s, eCommerce has been accelerating at unprecedented rates. And you don’t need to dig deep; just look at the recent online market statistics – it grew from $1.47T in 2017 to $3.65T in 2023. Today's online market is as fast-paced as Formula 1 and as dynamic as a rollercoaster ride.

But it doesn’t mean you can’t catch up. You just need to stay ahead of the curve. And there’s no need to ask how because we already have the answer – customer feedback & eCommerce trend data. It’s an unusual combination, we know. But let us show how you can leverage this data to unlock your brand’s growth potential and maximize success in today’s bustling online marketplace. As a bonus, we’ll also explore proxies and how they fit into the mix. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and prepare to soak in some knowledge!

In this article, we’ll explore the different kinds of errors and exceptions, what causes them, and provide solutions to solving them. No more headaches and cursing your code until it gets scared and starts working – master the language of Python to understand precisely what it wants from you.

So, you’re happily scrolling through your Instagram feed, double-tapping your friends’ photos and hilarious memes, and then suddenly… you can’t take any further action. And that’s, my buddy, how you know you've been hit with the dreaded error action blocked. 

As much as we love the Instagram app, there’s no denying that action limits can be a major buzzkill. However, you don’t need to worry – Instagram action blocked error happens to the best of us, and there’re sure ways to overcome it. So, fasten your seatbelt, and get ready to delve into everything you need to know about the action block error.

Join us on a voyage of looking back into 2023 – products and features releases, significant achievements, and a lot of improvements. Learn more about the ever-changing proxy and scraping landscape, how Decodo stood out from the competition, and what’s coming next.

Tired of gathering data inefficiently? Well, have you tried cURL? It’s a powerful and versatile command-line tool for transferring data with URLs. Its simplicity and wide range of capabilities make it a go-to solution for developers, data analysts, and businesses alike. Simply put, the cURL GET request method is the cornerstone of web scraping and data gathering. It enables you to access publicly available data without the need for complex coding or expensive software. In this blog post, we’ll explain how to send cURL GET requests, so you’re ready to harness its fullest potential.

Since their inception in 2000, CAPTCHAs have been crucial for website security, distinguishing human users from bots. They are a savior for website owners and a nightmare for data gatherers. While CAPTCHAs enhance website integrity, they pose challenges for those reliant on automated data gathering. In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the fundamentals of Puppeteer, focusing on techniques for CAPTCHA detection and avoidance using Puppeteer. We also explore strategies for how to bypass CAPTCHA verification, methods for solving CAPTCHAs with specialized third-party services, and the alternative solutions provided by our Site Unblocker.

Does web scraping take too much of your and your team's time? Struggling to balance efficiency with cost-effectiveness? Well, we’ve got great news for all you tech enthusiasts! Decodo hosted an exclusive webinar: “Web Scraping Efficiently: Save Your Team’s Time and Costs”.

By registering via the link above, you can replay the webinar for free. From seamless tool integration to savvy scraping practices, join us and improve your team’s approach by boosting productivity and cutting costs.

Beautiful Soup is a widely used Python library that plays a vital role in data extraction. It offers powerful tools for parsing HTML and XML documents, making it possible to extract valuable data from web pages effortlessly. This library simplifies the often complex process of dealing with the unstructured content found on the internet, allowing you to transform raw web data into a structured and usable format.

HTML document parsing plays a pivotal role in the world of information. The HTML data can be used further for data integration, analysis, and automation, covering everything from business intelligence to research and beyond. The web is a massive place full of valuable information; therefore, in this guide, we’ll employ various tools and scripts to explore the vast seas and teach them to bring back all the data.

At Decodo, our mission is to deliver value while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency, and industry's best practices. We’re dedicated to fostering a trust-based and sustainable industry where end-user awareness, consent, and equitable reward are the standard. That’s why we’re a co-founding member of the Ethical Web Data Collection Initiative (EWDCI), an international consortium of web data aggregation business leaders focused on encouraging dialogue and improving digital peace of mind for both consumers and companies. Today, we’re thrilled to announce our active participation in the EWDCI accreditation program, enabling us and other fellow eligible companies to receive the EWDCI Certified designation.

Businesses rely on real-time data about pricing, market trends, and their rivals' activities to make well-informed decisions and maintain a competitive edge. In fact, 98%¹ of executives agree it’s somewhat or very important to increase data analysis in their companies over the upcoming 1 to 3 years. Manual data collection methods are time-consuming, less efficient, and sometimes even provide outdated data, resulting in missed opportunities and potential loss of market share.

Fortunately, thanks to technological advancements, innovative and easy-to-use solutions like proxies and web scraping tools offer businesses a powerful way to monitor and analyze vital information efficiently.

With this in-depth article, we invite you to explore the proxy and scraping landscape, discover the pros and cons of such solutions, and learn how to identify some of the best real-time data collection options in the market matching the most popular use cases. Grab a cup of coffee and continue reading.

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