Web data extraction is a now a popular activity performed by companies operating in almost any area. Why do businesses need to extract data from the Internet? The web is the biggest source of information – share indexes, air temperature, price updates and various other data can be found there. While there are still many companies which rely on manual data extraction, the number of firms which prefer to use specialized software has been continuously rising, especially in recent years.

One example of a successful and widely popular provider of web data extraction software is Ficstar Software, a Toronto-based company with numerous clients all over the world. Ficstar’s web data extraction technology enables organizations to quickly and easily get the results they want. The solution delivers optimized efficiency by accelerating and reducing the time needed for copying and storage. It also eliminates error-prone manual processes and ensures that extracted data is always free of man-made errors. Using the solution is also very affordable to companies which would otherwise have to spend more money on manual extraction.

One of Ficstar’s most popular products is the Web Grabber. It is able to extract data from nearly any web site, including e-commerce sites, member list directories, search engines, and others. Web Grabber dynamically locates and captures information from target sites, and automatically transforms into a text file, Excel spreadsheet, or any database format. Web Grabber products include the innovative E-commerce and Contacts solutions.

The E-commerce solution allows customers to easily search for and extracts key product details from any e-commerce web site, including product names, categories, prices, part numbers, descriptions, inventory levels, etc. It is very popular among online stores and other web-based businesses whose operation is closely connected to information contained on e-commerce sites.

The second product, Web Grabber Contacts, allows the collection of results from online business directories, member listings, and other web sites which contain contact information. This feature makes it possible for firms to quickly identify members of their target audience and collect contact information, to gather details to use in promotional campaigns, and locate professionals. It can also be used to build online business directories or residential listing sites.

These two new products are very popular as they meet some very specific needs of many modern companies. In order to meet the demand of all types of business, however, Ficstar now offers its Custom-Designed Web Grabber. The solution is customized for each customer by modifying the software to fit the specific requirements for their target web sites. The customization required for clients’ target web sites can be completed within just a few days, thus allowing customers to begin generating results almost immediately.

Customized solutions are a recent development, but are certainly part of a clearly noticeable trend of transition from manual to software-based web data extraction. Given its efficiency and affordability, software solutions will definitely conquer the field of web data extraction.