Manually Scraping Data from Medium -vs- Using Medium API
A list of reasons why you should avoid manual web scraping and use Medium API instead
Want to scrape data from Medium, but unsure whether to build an in-house solution or use a third-party API (like ours)?
Well, this is a critical decision that can impact the efficiency and success of your project.
In this article, we'll explore why the Medium API is a smarter and more reliable choice compared to manual web scraping. While scraping might seem like a budget-friendly option, it comes with significant drawbacks that can hinder your progress and increase long-term costs.
Below, we outline key areas where the Medium API surpasses manual scraping, so you can make an informed choice for your development needs.
And if you're a startup or a business, you'll find that the Medium API is a more cost-effective and scalable solution for your data needs.
1. Reliability
Web scraping depends on parsing HTML, which can change without notice. A minor alteration in Medium's front-end design can break your scraper, requiring constant maintenance and updates.
In contrast, the Medium API provides a consistent and documented interface for fetching data. Updates to the API are rare and, when they occur, are accompanied by versioning and changelogs, ensuring your application remains functional.
2. Efficiency
Scraping involves fetching and processing entire web pages, often requiring additional steps to extract the desired data. This process is resource-intensive, both in terms of bandwidth and computing power. Additionally, running a manual web scraping tool may require maintaining a server for extended periods, adding to infrastructure costs and complexity.
On the other hand, Medium API delivers structured data directly in an easily consumable format such as JSON, allowing you to adopt serverless architecture and significantly reduce operational overhead.
3. Data Completeness
Manual web scraping may only capture data visible on the front end, missing critical details hidden in JavaScript, or requiring complex interactions. Additionally, inconsistencies in scraping tools can result in partial or erroneous data.
The Medium API, designed specifically for developers, ensures access to comprehensive and accurate information, including all kinds of metadata related to users, articles, publications and so on.
4. Scalability
Scaling a web scraper to handle large datasets is fraught with challenges. Increased requests can lead to server timeouts, slow response times, or errors.
The Medium API is built to handle high-volume requests efficiently, with clear rate limits and guidelines to ensure reliable performance. Developers can scale their applications without worrying about the pitfalls of scraping large datasets.
5. Risk of IP Ban or Block
Manual web scraping can trigger security mechanisms designed to prevent automated traffic. Repeated scraping attempts can result in IP bans or blocks, disrupting your operations.
By using the Medium API, you can avoid the risk of being blacklisted and ensuring uninterrupted access.
6. Bypassing Cloudflare Firewall
Medium uses Cloudflare to protect its website from malicious bots and DDoS attacks. Scraping tools frequently struggle to bypass Cloudflare's firewalls, leading to unreliable data collection. Developers may resort to workarounds like CAPTCHA-solving services, adding to complexity and cost.
The Medium API removes this obstacle entirely, offering direct and quickr access to the data you need.
7. Code Complexity
Building and maintaining a web scraper is inherently complex. Handling dynamic content, pagination, rate-limiting, and error retries requires significant development effort. Furthermore, changes to Medium's website can necessitate major rewrites.
The Medium API simplifies development with clear documentation, standardized responses, and robust SDKs that reduce the time and effort required to build and maintain your applications.
While manual web scraping might seem like a cheap solution for fetching Medium data, its numerous drawbacks make it an unreliable and inefficient approach. And costlier in the long run.
The Medium API provides a superior alternative, offering reliability, efficiency, completeness, scalability, and a risk-free method. By leveraging the Medium API, developers can focus on building powerful applications and gathering insights, without being bogged down by the challenges of scraping.
Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish.
Save yourself the headaches of broken scrapers, blocked IPs, and incomplete data. Use Medium API and experience a seamless and efficient way to integrate Medium's data into your apps.