Web Scraping Myths VS. Realities

The web scraping world is full of myths—some think it’s just copying data, others think it’s illegal or needs advanced coding knowledge.

The reality? Web scraping falls somewhere in the middle.

While it’s a great tool for collecting public data, it’s not always simple, legal, or risk–free.

Here, in this blog, we will bust 10 popular myths surrounding web scraping and uncover the truth behind them.

Whether you’re just a beginner who wants to investigate the no-code tools or a developer who’s using proxies and headless browsers, knowing these facts will make you scrape better—and responsibly.

So let’s start with the first myth;

1: It is very easy to scrape all websites

Reality: No, not at all.

Not all websites are easy to scrape. Some websites are very hard to scrape.

No doubt, many websites allow basic scraping.

But some websites use anti-scraping measures like CAPTCHAs, rate limiting, and dynamic content to prevent web scraping.

CAPTCHAs	To block automated scrapers or bots.
Rate limiting	Blocks users who send too many requests too quickly.
Dynamic content (JavaScript-heavy sites)	The page loads content using JavaScript, so you need special tools to see all the info.

Best Practice: Use tools like rotating proxies, add delays between requests, and use headless browsers like Puppeteer or Selenium to avoid detection.

2: Web Scraping = Hacking

Reality: No, web scraping and hacking are not the same at all.

Web scraping is automated data collection.

Most people believe that web scraping and hacking are similar, but they are completely different.

Aspect	Web Scraping	Hacking
What is it?	Extracting data from a website using automated tools like web scrapers in a legal way.	Breaking into computers or websites without any permission.
Why do it?	To collect info like prices, reviews, or some other data for personal use or for research.	To harm, steal, or mess with the data or system.
Is it legal?	Yes, if you follow the rules and don’t take private information, then web scraping is legal.	No, hacking is illegal because you are entering without any permission.
Is it okay?	Yes, if done the right way.	No, it’s totally wrong and can get you into big trouble.
Do you need permission?	If the information is publicly available, then no need for permission. But in some cases, you have to take permission before scraping.	No permission — it’s done secretly.
Example	Scraping prices from e-commerce sites to compare prices.	Stealing a person's personal and private details, e.g., banking or card numbers online.
Risk	Safe if you've done it correctly and legally.	Very risky — can go to jail.

Best Practice: Collect only publicly available data and do not bypass login pages.

3: You require an advanced level of coding skills to scrape data from a website

Reality: No

Yes, many people who have advanced coding knowledge can use coding to scrape websites.

For example, by using Beautiful Soup for web scraping, they can scrape data from HTML pages.

But there are also no-code tools like ScrapeLead available on the market.

ScrapeLead is a totally no-code tool, which means you don’t have to be an expert coder to extract information from website.

They have a total of 170+ scrapers for every category, like e-commerce, business, flights, hotels, social media, and many more.

By using these no-code scrapers, you can easily pull data from website to Excel. Not only in Excel but also in JSON, CSV, and HTML.

If you sign up right now, then you can get 500 free credits every month.

So what are you waiting for?

Best Practice: If you are a beginner, start with No-code tools for scraping site, then move to coding for more complex tasks.

4: Web scraping always slows down websites

Reality: If you scrape responsibly, it won’t hurt the website.

Some scrapers send too many requests at once, which can crash or slow the site.

But ethical scrapers follow rules, they:

Use delays between requests
Obey robots.txt rules
Don’t send too many requests at once

Best Practice: Be nice, and treat sites with care. Only scrape the data you actually need. Attempt to scrape when the site is not too crowded.

5: All scraped data is accurate and clean

Reality: Raw scraped data is usually not perfect. It may require cleaning and verification before it can be analyzed.

When you scrape data, it may have problems as:

Duplicates: The same information may show up multiple times.
Missing values: Some information may be missing.
HTML/CSS artifacts: Scraped data may have additional code or formatting that shouldn’t be present (like links, images, or styles).

Best Practice: Clean your data before analysis using data-cleaning libraries (Pandas, OpenRefine).

6: APIs replace the need for web scraping

Reality: APIs aren’t always the answer. Not all websites have an API, and some APIs are limited or costly.

Web scraping is helpful when:

There is no API – Some websites don’t have an API.
APIs are limited – Some APIs will only allow you to make a few requests, or they’ll charge you for additional use.
APIs don’t provide everything – Occasionally, the API won’t provide everything you require, but scraping can fetch you the additional information.

Best Practice: Always check for an API first. If the website doesn’t offer an API, then use web scraping.

7: Proxies and VPNs make scraping undetectable

Reality: Just proxies or a VPN won’t make you a ghost to websites. They have some pretty clever methods to still catch scrapers.

Even if you’re using proxies or VPNs, websites can trace you through:

Behavior analysis – They can monitor items such as mouse movement, clicks, or how quickly you’re making requests, which reveals bot-like behavior.
Request patterns – If you’re sending too many requests too quickly, it’s a red flag. Humans don’t click that fast.
IP reputation checks – Some websites know which IPs belong to proxies or VPNs and can block them.

Best Practice: In order not to get detected, use residential proxies (they appear like regular user IPs).

You will also need to be more human-like by:

Adding random delays between the requests
Rotating proxies so you don’t hit the same one too many times
Simulating the mouse movement or scrolling to make it look human-like

8: Web scraping is only for big companies

Reality: Nope! Web scraping isn’t only for large tech firms. Small businesses, students, and even individuals can use it as well.

Web scraping can be really useful for things like:

Monitoring prices – Small online shops can monitor competitor prices.
Identifying leads – Sales teams can scrape contact information from public websites.
Conducting research – Students, reporters, or anyone working on a project can collect valuable information.

You don’t have to use expensive tools or a large team to begin. With ScrapeLead, anyone can scrape a website for data.

Best Practice: Begin small—scrape one website or one type of information—then expand as you need more.

9: Once installed, scrapers work forever

Reality: No

Common reasons scrapers fail:

Website structure changes – If the site redesigns its structure or design, your scraper may no longer find the data.
Altered CSS selectors or XPaths – These instruct the scraper where to search. If they are altered, the scraper is lost.
New anti-bot technologies – Websites can include CAPTCHAs or other impediments to prevent scrapers.

Best Practice: Test your scraper often. Update it when the site updates, and make your code flexible so it’s simpler to repair.

Biggest myth: Web Scraping is Illegal

Reality: Web scraping itself is not illegal, but how you do it matters.

When is web scraping legal	When is web scraping illegal
If you follow the website’s Terms of Service (ToS)	If you violate the website’s Terms of Service (ToS)
If you scrape publicly available data	If you scrape private data
If you follow privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA	If you don’t follow privacy laws like GDPR or CCPA
When you use data for personal use	When you sell the data unethically.