What should I do if my IP gets banned while scraping Glassdoor?

If your IP gets banned while scraping Glassdoor, it's essential to understand that you've likely violated Glassdoor's Terms of Use. In general, many websites, including Glassdoor, have strict policies against scraping because it can put a strain on their servers and infringe on copyright and proprietary data.

However, if you're engaged in web scraping activities for legitimate purposes, such as personal data analysis without violating any laws, here are some steps you could consider:

1. Stop Scraping Temporarily

Immediately cease your scraping activities. Continuing to attempt to access the site could lead to further action from Glassdoor, such as a permanent ban or even legal action.

2. Review Their Terms of Use

Revisit Glassdoor's Terms of Use to ensure that your scraping activities comply with their policies. If your activities are in violation, it's best to stop and not attempt to scrape their site again.

3. Use Legal Avenues

If the data is critical for your work, consider reaching out to Glassdoor directly to request access to the data legally. They may offer an API or data service for a fee.

4. Implement Ethical Scraping Practices

If you decide to resume scraping after the ban is lifted and are certain it complies with legal and ethical standards, consider the following practices to minimize the risk of getting banned again:

• Respect Robots.txt: Check the robots.txt file of the website to see if scraping is disallowed for the parts of the site you're interested in.
• Rate Limiting: Throttle your requests to avoid sending too many requests in a short period.
• User-Agent: Rotate user-agent strings to mimic different browsers.
• Headers: Use realistic HTTP headers to mimic a browser.
• Proxies: Use a pool of rotating IP addresses or proxy servers to distribute your requests over multiple IPs.

5. Use a Web Scraping Service

Consider using a web scraping service that operates within legal boundaries and may already have agreements with websites to access their data.

Technical Solutions

If after careful consideration you proceed with scraping, here are some technical measures that can be taken:

Python Example with Proxies

import requests
from requests.exceptions import ProxyError
import time

proxies = [
    'http://proxy1.example.com:8080',
    'http://proxy2.example.com:8080',
    # Add more proxies as needed
]

headers = {
    'User-Agent': 'Your Custom User Agent String Here',
}

url = 'https://www.glassdoor.com/path/to/resource'

for proxy in proxies:
    try:
        response = requests.get(url, headers=headers, proxies={'http': proxy, 'https': proxy})
        # Check if the request was successful
        response.raise_for_status()
        # Process the response
        print(response.text)
        break
    except ProxyError:
        print("Proxy Error with", proxy)
    except requests.HTTPError as e:
        print("HTTP Error:", e)
    time.sleep(10)  # Wait 10 seconds before trying the next proxy

JavaScript Example with Rate Limiting (Node.js)

const axios = require('axios');
const Bottleneck = require('bottleneck');

const limiter = new Bottleneck({
  minTime: 2000 // Wait at least 2000ms between each request
});

const baseUrl = 'https://www.glassdoor.com/path/to/resource';

const headers = {
  'User-Agent': 'Your Custom User Agent String Here'
};

async function scrapeData(url) {
  try {
    const response = await axios.get(url, { headers });
    console.log(response.data);
  } catch (error) {
    console.error("Error fetching data:", error);
  }
}

// Queue up a list of URLs to scrape
const urls = [baseUrl + '?page=1', baseUrl + '?page=2', /* ... */];

urls.forEach(url => {
  limiter.schedule(() => scrapeData(url));
});

Final Note

It's crucial to remember that unauthorized scraping can lead to legal consequences and permanent bans from websites. Always prioritize ethical scraping practices and consider the legal implications before proceeding. If you're unsure, consult with a legal professional.