Handle URL parameters

What are URL parameters?

URL parameters are additional data appended to the URL. They play a crucial role in web scraping as they allow for customization and specificity when accessing information on a website. URL parameters often filter data, sort results, or specify search criteria. Understanding how to handle URL parameters allows us to optimize our web scraping process and retrieve the needed data.

Uses of URL parameters in web scraping

Below are a few everyday use cases of URL parameters in web applications.

• Filtering data: Websites often provide options to filter data based on specific criteria such as date ranges, categories, or search queries. By manipulating URL parameters, we can scrape data that matches specific filters. For example, we can append a parameter like ?category=books to the URL to retrieve only book-related data from an e-commerce website.