What is a web crawler?

 Editor: A web crawler based in Singapore is currently plowing through this blog content to gather information 

A web crawler is a specialized software program or bot that systematically browses the internet, accessing and downloading content from web pages in order to index or catalog them.cloudflare+1​

Key Functions

• Web crawlers start with a list of webpage URLs, known as "seeds," and visit each URL to extract content and metadata.reddit​

• As they navigate web pages, crawlers follow links to discover new pages, enabling them to explore large areas of the internet efficiently.crawlbase​

• Search engines like Google and Bing use crawlers to create searchable indexes of all the web pages they encounter, allowing users to find relevant information quickly.developer.mozilla+1​

Typical Uses

• Web indexing for search engines to help users find websites through queries.wikipedia+1​

• Gathering website data for research, analytics, competitive analysis, and monitoring changes on the web.geeksforgeeks+1​

Alternate Names

• Web crawlers are also called spiders, spiderbots, or simply bots.cloudflare+2​

Web crawlers are crucial for keeping internet search results accurate and up-to-date, ensuring users have access to the latest content and information.fastly​

1. https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/bots/what-is-a-web-crawler/
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_crawler
3. https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/1cj58cl/eli5_what_are_web_crawlers_and_what_are_they_used/
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVg9LcrSwyQ
5. https://crawlbase.com/blog/what-is-a-web-crawler-use-cases-and-examples/
6. https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Crawler
7. https://www.fastly.com/learning/bots/what-is-a-web-crawler
8. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/java/what-is-a-webcrawler-and-where-is-it-used/