---
title: "Alternative Data for Investment: Web Data Collection API"
description: "Collect alternative data for investment research. Extract web-based signals, sentiment, and hiring data as structured JSON with WebScraping.AI."
url: https://webscraping.ai/use-cases/alternative-data-investment
markdown_index: https://webscraping.ai/llms.txt
---
FINANCIAL SERVICES

# Alternative Data for Investment

Generate alpha with web-sourced alternative data. Extract market signals, sentiment, and competitive intelligence from across the internet.

[Start Free Trial](https://webscraping.ai/auth/sign_up)[View Documentation](https://webscraping.ai/docs)

## Traditional Data Isn't Enough

Everyone has access to the same financial data feeds. To generate alpha, you need unique data sources - web-based signals that reveal market dynamics before they show up in traditional metrics.

Building and maintaining alternative data pipelines is expensive and complex. You need a reliable way to extract insights from the web at scale.

#### WebScraping.AI Solution

- **Flexible Data Collection:** Extract structured data from any public website
- **AI-Powered Analysis:** Ask questions about a page and get a direct answer back
- **Scale Ready:** Collect thousands of data points across many pages
- **Reliable Requests:** Rotating proxies and JS rendering keep collection consistent

## Alternative Data Sources

Web data that drives investment insights

#### Company Signals

Track hiring, job postings, executive changes, and expansion indicators.

#### Consumer Data

Monitor pricing, inventory levels, and product launches.

#### Sentiment Data

Extract sentiment from reviews, forums, and news sources.

#### News & Events

Monitor press releases, news articles, and regulatory filings.

## Code Examples

Extract alternative data signals

##### Track hiring signals from a careers page

**cURL**

```bash
curl -G "https://api.webscraping.ai/ai/fields" \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://target-company.com/careers" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[total_openings]=Total number of open positions" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[departments_hiring]=Which departments are hiring" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[engineering_roles]=Number of engineering positions" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[sales_roles]=Number of sales positions" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[locations]=Locations with open positions" \
  --data-urlencode "fields[recent_postings]=Jobs posted in the last 30 days"
# Response:
# {
# "result": {
# "total_openings": "47",
# "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
# "engineering_roles": "23",
# "sales_roles": "12",
# "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
# "recent_postings": "15"
# }
# }
```

**Python**

```python
# pip install webscraping_ai
# https://pypi.org/project/webscraping-ai/
from webscraping_ai import Client

client = Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
result = client.fields(
    "https://target-company.com/careers",
    fields={
        "total_openings": "Total number of open positions",
        "departments_hiring": "Which departments are hiring",
        "engineering_roles": "Number of engineering positions",
        "sales_roles": "Number of sales positions",
        "locations": "Locations with open positions",
        "recent_postings": "Jobs posted in the last 30 days",
    },
)
print(result)
# Response:
# {
# "result": {
# "total_openings": "47",
# "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
# "engineering_roles": "23",
# "sales_roles": "12",
# "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
# "recent_postings": "15"
# }
# }
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
// npm install webscraping-ai
// https://www.npmjs.com/package/webscraping-ai
import { WebScrapingAI } from 'webscraping-ai';

const client = new WebScrapingAI({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });
const result = await client.fields({
  url: 'https://target-company.com/careers',
  fields: {
    total_openings: 'Total number of open positions',
    departments_hiring: 'Which departments are hiring',
    engineering_roles: 'Number of engineering positions',
    sales_roles: 'Number of sales positions',
    locations: 'Locations with open positions',
    recent_postings: 'Jobs posted in the last 30 days',
  },
});
console.log(result);
// Response:
// {
// "result": {
// "total_openings": "47",
// "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
// "engineering_roles": "23",
// "sales_roles": "12",
// "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
// "recent_postings": "15"
// }
// }
```

**PHP**

```php
<?php
// composer require webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
// https://packagist.org/packages/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use WebScrapingAI\Client;

$client = new Client('YOUR_API_KEY');
$result = $client->fields('https://target-company.com/careers', [
    'total_openings' => 'Total number of open positions',
    'departments_hiring' => 'Which departments are hiring',
    'engineering_roles' => 'Number of engineering positions',
    'sales_roles' => 'Number of sales positions',
    'locations' => 'Locations with open positions',
    'recent_postings' => 'Jobs posted in the last 30 days',
]);
print_r($result);
// Response:
// {
// "result": {
// "total_openings": "47",
// "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
// "engineering_roles": "23",
// "sales_roles": "12",
// "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
// "recent_postings": "15"
// }
// }
```

**Ruby**

```ruby
# gem install webscraping_ai
# https://rubygems.org/gems/webscraping_ai
require 'webscraping_ai'

client = WebScrapingAI::Client.new(api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY')
result = client.fields(
  'https://target-company.com/careers',
  fields: {
    total_openings: 'Total number of open positions',
    departments_hiring: 'Which departments are hiring',
    engineering_roles: 'Number of engineering positions',
    sales_roles: 'Number of sales positions',
    locations: 'Locations with open positions',
    recent_postings: 'Jobs posted in the last 30 days',
  }
)
puts result.inspect
# Response:
# {
# "result": {
# "total_openings": "47",
# "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
# "engineering_roles": "23",
# "sales_roles": "12",
# "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
# "recent_postings": "15"
# }
# }
```

**Go**

```go
// go get github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    webscrapingai "github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4"
)

func main() {
    client, _ := webscrapingai.NewClient(&webscrapingai.Config{APIKey: "YOUR_API_KEY"})
    result, _ := client.Fields(context.Background(), &webscrapingai.FieldsOptions{
        URL: "https://target-company.com/careers",
        Fields: map[string]string{
            "total_openings": "Total number of open positions",
            "departments_hiring": "Which departments are hiring",
            "engineering_roles": "Number of engineering positions",
            "sales_roles": "Number of sales positions",
            "locations": "Locations with open positions",
            "recent_postings": "Jobs posted in the last 30 days",
        },
    })
    fmt.Println(result.Result)
}
// Response:
// {
// "result": {
// "total_openings": "47",
// "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
// "engineering_roles": "23",
// "sales_roles": "12",
// "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
// "recent_postings": "15"
// }
// }
```

**Java**

```java
// Maven: ai.webscraping:webscraping-ai:4.2.0
// https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/ai.webscraping/webscraping-ai
import ai.webscraping.Client;
import ai.webscraping.Config;
import ai.webscraping.option.FieldsOptions;
import ai.webscraping.result.FieldsResult;

Client client = new Client(Config.builder().apiKey("YOUR_API_KEY").build());
FieldsResult result = client.fields(FieldsOptions.builder()
    .url("https://target-company.com/careers")
    .addField("total_openings", "Total number of open positions")
    .addField("departments_hiring", "Which departments are hiring")
    .addField("engineering_roles", "Number of engineering positions")
    .addField("sales_roles", "Number of sales positions")
    .addField("locations", "Locations with open positions")
    .addField("recent_postings", "Jobs posted in the last 30 days")
    .build());
System.out.println(result.getResult());
// Response:
// {
// "result": {
// "total_openings": "47",
// "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
// "engineering_roles": "23",
// "sales_roles": "12",
// "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
// "recent_postings": "15"
// }
// }
```

**C#**

```csharp
// dotnet add package WebScrapingAI
// https://www.nuget.org/packages/WebScrapingAI
using WebScrapingAI;

var client = new WebScrapingAIClient(new WebScrapingAIClientOptions { ApiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY" });
var result = await client.FieldsAsync(new FieldsRequest {
    Url = "https://target-company.com/careers",
    Fields = new Dictionary<string, string> {
        ["total_openings"] = "Total number of open positions",
        ["departments_hiring"] = "Which departments are hiring",
        ["engineering_roles"] = "Number of engineering positions",
        ["sales_roles"] = "Number of sales positions",
        ["locations"] = "Locations with open positions",
        ["recent_postings"] = "Jobs posted in the last 30 days",
    },
});
Console.WriteLine(result.Result);
// Response:
// {
// "result": {
// "total_openings": "47",
// "departments_hiring": "Engineering, Sales, Marketing, Operations",
// "engineering_roles": "23",
// "sales_roles": "12",
// "locations": "San Francisco, New York, London, Remote",
// "recent_postings": "15"
// }
// }
```

##### Surface executive announcements from press releases

**cURL**

```bash
curl -G "https://api.webscraping.ai/ai/question" \
  --data-urlencode "api_key=YOUR_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "url=https://target-company.com/press" \
  --data-urlencode "question=What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?"
```

**Python**

```python
# pip install webscraping_ai
# https://pypi.org/project/webscraping-ai/
from webscraping_ai import Client

client = Client(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")
answer = client.question(
    "https://target-company.com/press",
    question="What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?",
)
print(answer)
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
// npm install webscraping-ai
// https://www.npmjs.com/package/webscraping-ai
import { WebScrapingAI } from 'webscraping-ai';

const client = new WebScrapingAI({ apiKey: 'YOUR_API_KEY' });
const answer = await client.question({
  url: 'https://target-company.com/press',
  question: 'What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?',
});
console.log(answer);
```

**PHP**

```php
<?php
// composer require webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
// https://packagist.org/packages/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-php
require 'vendor/autoload.php';

use WebScrapingAI\Client;

$client = new Client('YOUR_API_KEY');
$answer = $client->question(
    'https://target-company.com/press',
    'What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?',
);
echo $answer;
```

**Ruby**

```ruby
# gem install webscraping_ai
# https://rubygems.org/gems/webscraping_ai
require 'webscraping_ai'

client = WebScrapingAI::Client.new(api_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY')
answer = client.question(
  'https://target-company.com/press',
  question: 'What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?'
)
puts answer
```

**Go**

```go
// go get github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
// https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4
package main

import (
    "context"
    "fmt"

    webscrapingai "github.com/webscraping-ai/webscraping-ai-go/v4"
)

func main() {
    client, _ := webscrapingai.NewClient(&webscrapingai.Config{APIKey: "YOUR_API_KEY"})
    answer, _ := client.Question(context.Background(), &webscrapingai.QuestionOptions{
        URL: "https://target-company.com/press",
        Question: "What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?",
    })
    fmt.Println(answer)
}
```

**Java**

```java
// Maven: ai.webscraping:webscraping-ai:4.2.0
// https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/ai.webscraping/webscraping-ai
import ai.webscraping.Client;
import ai.webscraping.Config;
import ai.webscraping.option.QuestionOptions;

Client client = new Client(Config.builder().apiKey("YOUR_API_KEY").build());
String answer = client.question(QuestionOptions.builder()
    .url("https://target-company.com/press")
    .question("What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?")
    .build());
System.out.println(answer);
```

**C#**

```csharp
// dotnet add package WebScrapingAI
// https://www.nuget.org/packages/WebScrapingAI
using WebScrapingAI;

var client = new WebScrapingAIClient(new WebScrapingAIClientOptions { ApiKey = "YOUR_API_KEY" });
var answer = await client.QuestionAsync(new QuestionRequest {
    Url = "https://target-company.com/press",
    Question = "What are the most recent announcements? Are there any executive changes, partnerships, or product launches mentioned?",
});
Console.WriteLine(answer);
```

## Benefits for Investment Firms

**Unique Signals:** Access data not available in traditional feeds.

**Leading Indicators:** Detect trends before they appear in financials.

**Custom Data Sets:** Build proprietary data assets.

**Flexible Schema:** Extract exactly the data points you need.

**API-First:** Easy integration with existing data pipelines.

#### Alternative Data Types

**Job Posting Data**

Track hiring velocity as a growth indicator

**Pricing Intelligence**

Monitor competitor and market pricing

**Web Traffic Proxies**

Estimate consumer interest and demand

**News & Sentiment**

Track news flow and market sentiment

## Related Use Cases

More data collection solutions

[Job Listing Data](https://webscraping.ai/use-cases/job-listing-aggregation): Aggregate job postings for hiring signals.

[Price Monitoring](https://webscraping.ai/use-cases/price-monitoring): Track pricing data across markets.

[Sentiment Analysis](https://webscraping.ai/use-cases/social-media-monitoring): Monitor social sentiment and trends.

## Start Collecting Alternative Data

Get started with 2,000 free API credits. No credit card required.

[Start Free Trial](https://webscraping.ai/auth/sign_up)[View API Documentation](https://webscraping.ai/docs)