Safeguarding the Future Through Data Mining

Web scraping can be a powerful tool not only in business and research. In fact, it has the capacity to protect the future by its predicting power. You may find this declaration incredible; but data mining is indeed a tangible way of predicting future events and thus protecting life in the future.

With the thousands of years of existence on earth, humans are able to gather as much information and experience to have a glimpse of what is to come. With the cycles of changes in the environment and in the whole universe aside from the human behavior, so much can be learned and applied.

At least three major things can be determined by careful and diligent data mining. These are: future threats; future trends; and future tactics.

Future threats

According to reports, the US intelligence agencies have been using web extraction as a way of studying the present and past terrorism acts and personages to predict future terrorist events. This has been actively done since the year 2010.

Data is gathered about a known terrorist such as: his activities; his contacts; his routines; the places he frequents; and other related information. These data are analyzed and classified. Any suspicious activities as well as unusual contact are monitored closely. Through these stored data and monitoring processes, any untoward activities can be precluded and preempted. You may say that terrorists can be using data mining too; and that is obviously possible. In this way, web scraping can also be used as a weapon for destruction. There is then a need for the government agencies to be very careful in protecting their data so that the enemies cannot retrieve them.

In the overall picture, you can just imagine how many lives, trauma, and damage can be prevented if future terrorist activities are prevented.

Moreover, climate change is another phenomenon that has already been predicted and is beginning to occur nowadays. Scientists have been studying the effects of global warming and environmental degradation through online data too. So much information drives and warning have been published by scholarly papers and by the experts but many of these have remained unheeded. Now that erratic weather conditions are happening, people can only regret and feel guilty that they are part of the cause of the problem.

However, it is not really too late to do some actions. People can avoid places where abnormal conditions are expected to happen; they can do some measures to protect themselves; and they can be informed ahead of time before anything catastrophic could happen.

Future trends

In relation to the predictions of possible threats, data extraction can also predict future trends. This is most helpful in businesses because they can be helped to produce items and employ strategies that will suit the expected patrons and clients.  Since history tends to repeat itself, data gathered in the past and present if studied judiciously and compared intelligently can bring in positive results.

Oftentimes, the companies that study their books as well as of those who have gone before them can gain more knowledge and expertise that will surely put them ahead of their contemporaries.

Future tactics

Naturally, along with knowing the possible events and trends in the future, strategies and ways to combat threats and cope with trends can also be predicted through web scraping.

Safeguarding the future is no longer a dream or wish. As early as today, experts can create equipment, structures, strategies, and even weapons to prevent any untoward incidents and collateral damage.

Studying the strengths and weaknesses of the past and present plans, procedures, and tools can lead to better technologies and techniques. The future can be a better and safer place if people can learn from the mistakes of the past and go from good to better.

The statement: “The best is yet to come,” will finally be realized if proper management of data and information collected and analyzed through web scraping will be conducted.

Bright future

Looking at the horizon, one can always expect the sun to shine and bring in a bright day. This same positive expectation for the future is indeed possible. Thanks to data mining; life can be handled more securely and precisely.

It does not mean that humans have become gods. It only proves that a person’s talents and skills, when used properly can make his/her future brighter and more successful. On the other hand, carelessness and lack of sensibilities to other people and the environment can surely bring in future doom.

Everything is laid bare and you are given the chance to handle the present with enough wisdom and capabilities. Although the world is too big to be understood and there is still a huge field of knowledge to be conquered, life can surely go on positively.

Source:http://www.loginworks.com/blogs/web-scraping-blogs/257-safeguarding-the-future-through-data-mining/

About Web Scraping and Web Data Mining

Web scraping as suggested by the name simply refers to method of obtaining data or information from an array of websites. This has greatly revolutionized how companies obtain data and put this obtained data into significant use.This has greatly helped many firms and individuals in different spheres transact in the most effective ways. With the internet offering a very large base for obtaining information, various companies have resorted to use web scraping as method of getting information. Relevance of needed data is of great importance since it is the determining factor of what and how data has to be scraped. A good number of data mining companies have come up to help individuals and organizations get the information as per their requirements. These companies also provide software which when installed in a computer may be of great importance to the business.

Depending on the organizations background it may opt to choose between mining the data for themselves or actually employing the services of a data mining company. These organizations have data mining experts who actually are better suited to handle data professionally. As it sounds it is not every ones job since it is computer languages that are used therefore it is only those with relevant knowledge that are well suited to handle this jobs.

Although short cuts are considered dangerous, in this case hiring the services of this experts may bring with it better results with minimized costs than doing the job internally What brings about the idea of a company going for a particular data mining company? For obvious reasons it may because of some eye catching advertisement somewhere. Mostly businesses do extensive research when it comes to making this choice and depending on the gravity sensitivity and format of sort data. These companies provide the needed data in the most comprehensive and in the needed format hence wastage of time as a resource is unheard in these businesses.

web scraping and data mining Research done by these companies ought to be converted to meaningful results. This is done by carrying out meaning full analysis and deducing relevant conclusions from this data. This operation greatly improves the efficiency of these organizations. Analysis done on this is carried by asking relevant questions regarding some aspects regarding the operations of the business. Questions that are frequently asked may take a certain form like, how viable could this be in the short run? In the quest of these answers it is then that meaningful analysis is done.

Data mining companies have given the business word a major boost in the accusation of data from the internet which may now be considered as the largest information resource. It also through this data mining that results from surveys across various parts of the world is acquired. This eliminates the need for this company carrying out these researches for themselves .Of particular importance is the aspect of language barriers making an individual company seeks the services of a reputable data mining firm. Therefore from all the above considerations it can be deduced that, if only a business is to achieve its objectives only proper web scraping techniques from reputable firms should be employed.

Web data mining refers to ways and methods which are used in seeking information from a wide array of websites. Companies and individuals employ this in their daily operations since in the current word lack of information can be a major setback. This is simply because it is through data mining that enterprises will be able to market their businesses, get information regarding upcoming promotions and sometimes make relevant discoveries. This explains why companies are investing lots of resources all aimed in the search of relevant information. After this organizations have gathered this information implementation of obtained information is vital. Therefore data mining should be coupled with relevant implementation to count it as a success. Analysis of information is quite important .Since bulky information obtained may not be necessarily required in that form. This is done using software that is capable of giving a good analysis of the data.

Analysis is done in different ways depending on requirements like one may require a summary or categorized data. Previously when data mining was not greatly used software developments were minimal .Recently there are great improvements in this field since many organizations are embracing it particularly those in third world countries. This has greatly improved turnovers of a good number of companies. Previously many firms used to collect data manually. This of course proved to be a very slow method and a tiring one. Many firms had to increase their staff to cope with this bulk in workload. Considering this age where capitalism is thriving they risked being faced out since it is the case where only the strongest survive and the weaker ones pave way. Time was a factor in realizing an increase in number of organization using this technologically advanced approach. Usage of this collected information is actually used to foster better growth of the company.

Based on previous findings from various analysis techniques are employed by the firms employees irrespective of their ranks. For examples managers may employ web data mining to make good and realistic decisions that are consistent or better than those which other companies are using. Information may also aid in improvement of business infrastructure since in the modern word infrastructure development is on the rise. Better infrastructure acquired on time will actually give the business a big thrust ahead of their competitors. With the relevant data mining software’s companies are able to do meaningful research and developments. For instance companies are able to address issues regarding their customers preferences, their individual wants .

A company may easily know who their customers are, what they are their likes and also their economic abilities. This can be used when the company decides to give offers, discounts and many other customer enticing actions. For example a soft drink company will have to place its promotions during winter since it is then that their customers are unlikely to buy their services. With this great increase in number of resources on the websites no individual can afford to ignore data mining.

Source: http://www.loginworks.com/blogs/web-scraping-blogs/247-web-scraping-and-web-data-mining/

Online Retail - Mining for Gold

Online retailers live in an ever-changing environment, and the ability to stay competitive is the difference between doing well and doing nothing. In today's fast paced internet market place, if you aren't using web scraping, you are missing a key component to growing your business.

Data Mining

Data mining your competition's prices and services and making sure your prices and services are similar, or even lower, is what makes the difference. Why should your customer choose you if they can get the same product somewhere else for less? What data you collect and how often you update it is also another key ingredient to success.

Extract Website Data

Web scraping allows you to gather information from your competition and use it improve your position in the market. When you extract website data from your competitor's website, it allows you to conduct business from a position that doesn't involve guess work. The internet is an environment that is constantly being updated and changed. It is vital that you have the ability to have up-to-date information on what others in your market are doing. If you can't do this, you really can't compete.

Application of Information

When you know what your competitors are doing all the time, you can keep your business a little more competitive than they are. When you have information such as monthly and even weekly price variations in the market and what products and services are being offered, you can apply that information to your own pricing matrix and ensure a competitive edge in your market.

An Army of One

Web scraping gives you the ability to see what is going on in the market at all times. You can monitor just about anything you choose with a web scraping service. Many online retailers are very small operations and they don't have the resources to constantly monitor each competitor's website - so engaging a web scraping service is like having your own marketing and research team working for you night and day to keep tabs on them. You choose what it is you want to know, and your research team goes to work. Simple.

Staying Ahead of Trends

Having the ability to recognize trends is the key to any business, especially on the internet were information is so fluid. The business that can identify a trend quickly and take advantage of it will always stay one step ahead. That's why big corporations have teams dedicated to researching market trends and predictions. If you can see where something is going, you can always get ahead of it. That's what web scraping can help you do - identify those trends in your market so you can get in ahead of the pack.

A Helping Hand
Sometimes running your own online retail business can be a daunting and lonely ordeal. Even those that have a great deal of experience with the internet can feel lost at times. A web scraping service is a tool you can use to help yourself in such times. Web scraping is automated and precise, and it gives you the ability to have vital information delivered to you in a manner you can understand and use. It's one less thing to worry about - and the information you get from data mining is what every business owner actually should worry about - what the competition is doing? With a web scraping service, you can concern yourself with other things - like making more profits.

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Online-Retail---Mining-for-Gold&id=6531024

Should I Advertise With the Yellowpages or YP Online?

This is a company that's been around for over 100 years, so they seem like a solid company to do business with, right?

Well ultimately I'll leave the decision up to you because they can be good for certain businesses and do absolutely nothing for others. I'll lay out the pros and cons and let you decide at the end.

The Yellowpages, big yellow, grandma's booster seat... and now YP online. Advertising your business used to be as simple as buying the biggest ad in the book, then came the internet, multiple competitors in the phone book arena, coupon books, door to door sales people, community boards... the list goes on.

So where do you spend your money and how much should you spend?

That's a different topic that we'll be writing on in the future, but for now let's stick to the Yellowpages and YP online.

A YELLOWPAGES REP CALLED ME, NOW WHAT?

They're out there in the thousands, scavenging the community boards, competitor websites like Yellowbook online and Craigslist... if your phone number is out there and it's attached to a business you're likely to get a call (or multiple calls) from a YP rep. The best thing to do, even if you're not interested, is to use their resources to learn more about your competition and the marketplace as a whole. They have access to lots of information that normal folks don't and it doesn't cost you anything (monetarily at least) to get it from them.

If you want the goods, you have to play their game (at least little bit)

What this means is that they're not going to give you information if you tell them right away that you're not interested. So you'll have to play along, don't make any commitments and try to stay on the phone with them without making an appointment to see them if you can stand your ground long enough. Beware, they're going to be pushy because that's how they make their living (selling you something), and who can blame them; most of them are good people that are just backed by a not-so-good company (or so I would assume).

USEFUL INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN MILK FROM THEM

Want to know what some of your competition is doing? Ask them and they'll be able to tell you how many calls a lot of your competitors are getting from certain ads. That alone would be a great question to get out of the way early so that you can always combat their sales tactics with this (the call counts are usually low). When they tell you the call count you can also ask them what their program looks like. See if it contains print, internet, direct mail...

They do a lot more than just the book now-a-days, however you'll pay a premium to do business with them. Often times you can do things like direct mail from a local company for cheaper and with MUCH better fulfillment (since they often times outsource their work to other companies for things like web design (for great website design, see the bottom of the article), direct mail, SEO... pretty much everything but YP online and the phone book -as of this writing at least).

Want a free logo?

If you string them along long enough they'll make an ad copy for your advertisement (usually only works for the phone book or direct mail) and you can ask them to send you an e-copy (Their graphic designers aren't the best, but they're alright if you're looking to get something for free) of the ad and use that for your own advertising that you don't end up doing with them (I'm not too sure about how the copyright rules work with this, but if you're a small business you probably won't have an issue *note* We're not saying to do this because it MIGHT be illegal, however if you choose to do it, it's there for you).

SOME OF THE THINGS THEY TELL YOU, YOU CAN FIND FOR YOURSELF

If you're looking to see how some of your competition is doing (or what they're doing) as far as Google AdWords or other Pay Per Click advertising methods you can always check out SpyFu. This is a free way to see how much your competition is spending on a daily basis and what kind of traffic their getting for doing so.

Another way to spy on them is to simply check out their Facebook or Twitter pages to see if they're running any kind of sales to spark traffic.

The old school version of this is to just give them a call and act like a customer.

WHAT THEY'LL TELL YOU AND HOW TO INTERPRET IT

One thing that the Yellowpages has is a lot of information (they've been around forever). There are also companies out there that they hire to do research and make them look good (even though it's considered third party, unbiased information we're pretty sure that they leave out information that doesn't make them look so hot).

So what does this mean for you? You'll be hearing a lot of statistics (unless the rep can't remember them) about things that might not necessarily mean anything to you.

They'll tell you how many people in whatever area you service area searching monthly for the things that you do and it'll usually sound very impressive! But then when it comes down to how many calls are being placed (they have this information for each ad on YP online and some for the phone books) there aren't too many. They'll say that people on average look at 4 to 5 ads before making a call, and the higher you are to the top of the list the more likely you are to get a call... bla bla bla. Sure, that makes sense, if you're first on the list then you'll get the most attention; what they don't tell you is that the majority of the calls will be from solicitors and that the call tracking number they're giving you could have been (and most likely has) used by a different company and that you'll probably get calls for their stuff too and that accounts for some of the calls you should've gotten.

Have they mentioned a "free ad" or a "pay per call" ad to you? They're the same product and it sounds wonderful until you realize that less than 30% of the businesses that sign up renew it (meaning it doesn't work very well). Prepare to now have to pay for the solicitors that call you on that number as well as, as mentioned above, people calling for a business that used to have that phone number.

SO SHOULD YOU GET A YELLOWPAGES AD?

You're probably thinking that we hate the Yellowpages by now, and you'd be wrong (sorry if the first part of this came across that way). We don't hate anyone for trying to make a buck, but we don't like their fulfillment practices.

Think about this, the main guys running this company came from another company that nobody really hears about too much anymore (AOL; think of the 10 free hours you never used). Since many of their products are outsourced, and therefore more expensive, you're never really getting a good deal on anything except for things that are proprietary to them (phonebook and YP online).

Should you get a phonebook or YP online ad? This question can only be answered after answering a few other questions (sorry).

Ask yourself some of these questions before you decide to make the plunge.

    What's the age of your target demographic? Older people are more likely to use the phone book (in some instances)

    Is your business mostly based on the distance from the consumer? Consider restaurants and how you look for them. We LOVE to find new restaurants to go to no matter where we travel to, but when I do a search on my phone (YP or Yelp app) I always set it to a distance search. So regardless of their advertising efforts the business cannot become closer to my current location. Better reviews can skew our decision, however it doesn't really bother us too much as long as there aren't many negative reviews.

    Where is your target demographic looking for your services? This one's really obvious but we figured that we'd put it in there because sometimes people forget the importance of the basics. If you're a restaurant people most likely aren't looking for you in the phone book, at least in our personal experience. We are more likely to first search for coupons in the mail or online (for restaurants) and then if we aren't successful we go to the distance search that we mentioned before. Think about where and how people search for the things that you do. Don't know where to start, ask your friends and family how they searched for a business that resembles what you offer.

If you find that all signs are pointing to the Yellowpages phonebook or YP online then you should do that. Just remember that you're going to be signed to a contract (they're going to try and get you for a whole year but they can do a 3 month contract and usually won't tell you about it until you ask).

For some industries the Yellowpages and YP online is a great place to be.

KEY TIPS!

They have a program called MC2 (don't think Einstein, think last ditch effort) where they'll "guarantee" (but not actually guarantee) a certain amount of leads for your advertising campaign. What's great about this is that they can give you a "cost per lead" and this is a great way to really figure out if your advertising campaign will bring in money for you! If they don't bring you the amount of leads they're supposed to, they'll (they're supposed to at least) do some advertising for you at no extra cost.

Since they obviously don't want to spend money on their own part to cover for what their advertising campaign lacked, they'll usually give you a lower number on this so that they look like they're going to over deliver (can't say whether they usually do or not).

What we're getting at is, compare this number to the amount of calls that they say that you should get before you get into the MC2 information. The numbers will be dramatically different and you'll be able to tell whether or not it's actually worth it for you to move forward with the advertising.

Let's say that each lead costs you $100 and you're a widget seller that makes an average sale of $25 per widget sold. So you'd have to sell 4 widgets to every lead (not all of them are actually leads, solicitors are counted as leads as well) to break even, and at least 5 to make a profit. Would you go for this advertising campaign? We recommend that you run for the hills.

Now let's say that each lead costs you $15 and you close 3 out of 10 phone calls (including solicitors) and your average sale per customer is $100. Let's do the math:

10 phone calls will cost you $150

You make 3 sales out of those 10 phone calls (3x$100 = $300)

$300-$150= $150 left over after paying for the calls

If there's still profit after the $150 then you're doing alright because, if you work referrals like you should, it'll pay off with happy customers getting your name out there. If there isn't, the answer is simple.

*note, this article is in no way affiliated with YP Holdings LLC or any of its affiliates and is meant for entertainment purposes only

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Thanks for reading

This is a company that's been around for over 100 years, so they seem like a solid company to do business with, right?

Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Should-I-Advertise-With-the-Yellowpages-or-YP-Online?&id=8170953