Now a day's internet is the main hub for the source ofinformation that is accessed across worldwide. The information accusers havemoved from a university to market research, web marketing and communicationvehicle that effects the life of everyone in all over the world.
As the no of websites increased day by day, the informationbecomes harder to keep track of search and use. So how do you find the exactinformation you're looking for in useful format.
Search Isn't Enough
Search engines are a big help, but they can do only part ofthe work, and they are hard-pressed to keep up with daily changes. For all thepower of Google and its kin, all that search engines can do is locateinformation and point to it. They go only two or three levels deep into a Website to find information and then return URLs. Search Engines cannot retrieveinformation from deep-web, information that is available only after filling insome sort of registration form and logging, and store it in a desirable format.In order to save the information in a desirable format or a particularapplication, after using the search engine to locate data, you still have to dothe following tasks to capture the information you need:
? Scan the content until you find the information.
? Mark the information (usually by highlighting with amouse).
? Switch to another application (such as a spreadsheet,database or word processor).
? Paste the information into that application.
Its not all copy and paste
Consider the scenario of a company is looking to build up anemail marketing list of over 100,000 thousand names and email addresses from apublic group. It will take up over 28 man-hours if the person manages to copyand paste the Name and Email in 1 second, translating to over $500 in wagesonly, not to mention the other costs associated with it. Time involved incopying a record is directly proportion to the number of fields of data thathas to copy/pasted.
Is there any Alternative to copy-paste?
A better solution, especially for companies that are aimingto exploit a broad swath of data about markets or competitors available on theInternet, lies with usage of custom Web harvesting software and tools.
Web software automatically extracts informationfrom the Web and picks up where search engines leave off, doing the work thesearch engine can't. Extraction tools automate the reading, the copying andpasting necessary to collect information for further use. The software mimicsthe human interaction with the website and gathers data in a manner as if thewebsite is being browsed. Web Harvesting software only navigate the website tolocate, filter and copy the required data at much higher speeds that is humanlypossible. Advanced software even able to browse the website and gather datasilently without leaving the footprints of access.