How to scrape Yelp reviews without duplicates?

Scraping Yelp reviews without duplicates requires careful planning and execution to ensure that each review is only captured once. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this using Python and its popular libraries like requests and BeautifulSoup. Note that scraping Yelp or any other website should be done in accordance with its terms of service and applicable laws. Many websites, including Yelp, prohibit scraping in their terms of service.

Step 1: Understanding Yelp's Review Structure

First, inspect the Yelp page containing the reviews you want to scrape. Understand the HTML structure and how reviews are loaded (e.g., static HTML, dynamic AJAX requests, etc.). You'll need to identify the unique identifiers for each review, such as a unique review ID attribute or data property.

Step 2: Setting Up Your Python Environment

Make sure you have Python and the necessary libraries installed. If you don't have the libraries installed, you can install them using pip:

pip install requests beautifulsoup4

Step 3: Writing the Scraper

Here's an example of how you might write a scraper that avoids duplicates:

import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

def get_page_reviews(url):
    response = requests.get(url)
    soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, 'html.parser')
    reviews = soup.find_all('div', {'class': 'review__373c0__13kpL'})

    reviews_data = []
    for review in reviews:
        review_id = review.get('data-review-id')  # Yelp uses a unique data attribute for review IDs
        if review_id:
            user_name = review.find('a', {'class': 'user-name'}).text
            review_text = review.find('p').text
            reviews_data.append({
                'review_id': review_id,
                'user_name': user_name,
                'review_text': review_text
            })
    return reviews_data

def scrape_yelp_reviews(base_url, total_pages):
    all_reviews = []
    seen_ids = set()

    for page_number in range(1, total_pages + 1):
        url = f"{base_url}?start={page_number * 10}"  # Assuming 10 reviews per page
        page_reviews = get_page_reviews(url)

        for review in page_reviews:
            if review['review_id'] not in seen_ids:
                seen_ids.add(review['review_id'])
                all_reviews.append(review)

    return all_reviews

# Usage
base_url = 'https://www.yelp.com/biz/some-business-name'
total_pages = 5  # Replace with the actual number of pages you want to scrape
reviews = scrape_yelp_reviews(base_url, total_pages)

Step 4: Running the Scraper

Run your scraper script in your terminal or command prompt. Ensure that your script handles errors, such as network issues or if Yelp blocks your requests.

Step 5: Dealing with Pagination and AJAX

Yelp's reviews may be spread across multiple pages, and new reviews may be loaded dynamically with AJAX as you scroll. You'll need to handle pagination by iterating over the page numbers and constructing the correct URL for each page. For AJAX-loaded content, you might have to reverse-engineer the API calls or simulate scrolling in a headless browser using a tool like Selenium.

Step 6: Respecting Yelp's Terms of Service

It's crucial to respect Yelp's terms of service. If Yelp's terms prohibit scraping, you must not scrape their site. Additionally, make sure you're not making too many requests in a short period, as this can be seen as a denial-of-service attack. Use appropriate rate limiting and consider using the Yelp API if it provides the data you need in a legal and structured way.

Conclusion

Scraping Yelp reviews without duplicates involves identifying unique identifiers for reviews, writing a scraper that checks for these identifiers, and handling pagination and potential AJAX calls. Always comply with the website's terms of service and use APIs when possible.