Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

I could actually see a use case for web scraping. If you're after particular pieces of content that aren't accessed in a structured way, on a site that rate limits you to the point of being restrictive, maybe using a bit of NLP could help you rank links to click.


I tried using OCR to scrap Facebook profiles by simulate web browsing behavior. It helps a lot in avoid account blocking but still too slow to be practical.


What's your reason for scraping so many people's personal data?


Really just curious about this approach and want to test it since most old scraping methods failed on Facebook data. My take is that it is possible with enough resources since it is actually pretty hard to separate this from real usages.


Try simulating it using headless chrome (directly accessing the page), works fast




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: