The Pros And Cons Of Each Cooking Method For Crab

Google News ranks as the [6th most popular news publishing website](https://www.similarweb.com/top-websites/united-states/news-and-media/) in the United States. With a massive user base of over [370 million monthly visitors](https://www.similarweb.com/website/news.google.com/#traffic), it stands as one of the most widely accessed news sources globally. ![Google News monthly traffic stats - source: similarweb](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_similarweb_traffic_2dee5d48af.png "width=1185;height=772") As well as being hugely popular, [the site aggregates data from over 20,000 publishers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_News#:~:text=In%20total%2C%20Google%20News%20aggregates,link%20to%20its%20larger%20content.). Scraping data from Google News means **finding out what the world's media is thinking** about a given subject at a given time. Thousands of hits with one stone. ![A Google SERP featured snippet from Wikipedia](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_wiki_d1ef179766.png "width=756;height=233") In this article, we'll explore **how to scrape Google News using Python** 🐍. We will walk you through the process of creating a Python script to gather news data from Google News. ## Why scrape Google News? Scraping in Python, we know how to do it. But what is our motive? There are many reasons to scrape Google News, including: * **Brand monitoring**: Track how your brand is being covered in the media. * **Competitor analysis**: Monitor your competitors' activities and strategies. * **Market research**: Gather data on consumer trends and market sentiment. * **News aggregation**: Create your own news website or aggregator. * **Data analysis**: Perform research on a variety of topics, such as politics, economics, and social issues. Whether you're a data enthusiast, researcher, or simply someone who loves keeping up with the news, this Python script allows you to **extract articles** from any language or region while capturing important data like headlines, publication dates, article links, and news sources. Let's get coding! 🧑‍💻 ## How to scrape Google News with Python? Before proceeding, we asked ourselves, **what do we need exactly?** Which data attributes we want to scrape and which features we need in our scraper. ### What data attributes do we need? We want to keep it simple and straightforward. When we explore news online, we read the headline/title, when it was published, who posted it, and maybe a few words from description to understand the context. So the attributes are sorted as follows: 1. **Title**: headline of the news article 2. **Published datetime**: freshness of the news 3. **Source**: who posted the article — is it trustworthy? 4. **Description**: what's the context 5. **Link**: to access the complete article ![Data attributes highlighted in Google SERP page](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_data_attributes_183d3f9261.png "width=912;height=812") ### What features do we need in our scraper? Well we don’t need any fancy stuff but the scraper must be powerful enough to scrape data from several URLs and stop once a certain number of items have been collected. Here are the features of the end scraper: * **Extract**: extract all data from a given Google News Search URL * **Stop**: after a limit amount of data has been collected * **Export**: data to .csv with a timestamped filename * **Scale**: read several Google News search URLs from a csv file ### Scrape Google News with API First we started with exploring the **official API**. While searching for the official API, we found out Google News had an official API till 2013 but **it was [deprecated in 2011](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7806200/what-to-use-now-google-news-api-is-deprecated#comment9763661_7829688)** and completely discontinued in 2013. ![StackoverFlow answer stating Google has no official news API anymore](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/stackoverflow_googlenews_noapi_d737f460b7.png "width=759;height=196") From this [support Google thread](https://support.google.com/googlenews/thread/206351447/how-can-i-get-google-news-api-and-its-pricing-details?hl=en), it unfortunately cannot be more clear, there **is strictly no official Google News API**: ![An answer from Google support thread by a product expert confirming there is no official Gooogle News API](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/community_answer_no_api_0753e0019a.png "width=716;height=381") Thanks Chris. We could also have used **a third-party API**, such as the powerful and widely-used [News API](https://newsapi.org/pricing). But these commercial APIs are **restricted, and substantially expensive**: starting from USD 450 per day, and articles available with 24h delay with the free plan. ![NewsAPI.org pricing page screenshot](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/third_party_api_pricing_bbc0a5d1b7.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:07:56.147Z) Do we have any cost-competitive alternative — with fresh data and competitive price? ### Scrape Google News through Google SERPs Intuitively, the first idea is to pick data from **[Google SERPs](https://mailchimp.com/marketing-glossary/serp/), when using the News tab**. This is, after all, the easiest way to access Google News. ![How to get to the news tab from Google Search Results Page example](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_serp_crab_cac1c59b86.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:07:55.511Z) But when exploring the data source, it does look that **the HTML structure is extremely complex**, with intricate HTML elements and meaningless class names: ![Checking HTML structure of Google SERP using inspect element](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_serp_inspect_36c3a533a8.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:07:59.832Z) More concerning, **the SERPs results do not provide the exact date and time of publication** of news articles. Instead, we have rough and unreliable estimates. Annoying if you want to build a [live news-based programmatic investment machine](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/111313/how-trade-news.asp). ![Screenshot of Google News results page showing it doesn't show exact date and time of publication](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/no_exact_date_google_news_4a7e6eadb6.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:08:00.260Z) If only we had another source of data, simply structured and making exhaustive data available. Does this exist? In the next part, we will see how to leverage the **old-but-gold powerful Google News RSS feed**. ### Scrape Google News with RSS feed RSS, [invented in 1999](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS), stands for Really Simple Syndication, which means a really simple way to convey information between organizations. Nice, this is exactly what we need. It is actually similar to an HTML structure, apart from **3 key differences:** * **Flat**: the data structure is easy * **Explicit**: each element has a clear explicit name * **Simple**: there is no class name or additional attributes with no functional purpose Basically, an RSS feed does look like this: ```xml The Pros And Cons Of Each Cooking Method For Crab - Tasting Table https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiRWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRhc3Rpbmd0YWJsZS5jb20vMTQzOTk5My9wcm9zLWNvbnMtZWFjaC1tZXRob2QtY29vay1jcmFiL9IBAA?oc=5 CBMiRWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRhc3Rpbmd0YWJsZS5jb20vMTQzOTk5My9wcm9zLWNvbnMtZWFjaC1tZXRob2QtY29vay1jcmFiL9IBAA Tue, 07 Nov 2023 12:00:40 GMT The Pros And Cons Of Each Cooking Method For Crab Tasting Table ``` > An RSS feed is actually built upon the **XML language** and structure. It’s a language which is for instance used by AWS, to display data saved in a S3 storage bucket. Feel free to explore further [here](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/xml/). And the good news is that **Google News does provide an easy-to-access, highly-structured live RSS feed**. Awesome! Because of a simpler and more structured format, we will be able to develop a parser faster, and more robust in the long run. Cherry on the cake, unlike Google SERP, **the RSS feed provides a reliable exact date and time of publication** for each article. To the second. ![Screensot of Google News RSS feed highlighting exact date and time of publication](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_news_rss_feed_exact_date_11df1efca4.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:27:45.814Z) In the next part, we’ll see how to scrape Google News RSS feed. ## Step-by-step tutorial RSS provides data in a simple, structured and standardized format: it’s easier to pull and parse. ![Screenshot showing Google News xml structure of Google News RSS feed, web page, and HTML Structure](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/xml_page_html_86a9664ef4.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:27:53.447Z) _From left to right_, _XML feed, webpage, and HTML source code from the search Google News URL, [https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen](https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen)_ To scrape data from RSS, the first thing we need is a feed URL. But where to find this Google News RSS URL? You can access the RSS feed just by simply adding `/rss` to your Google news URL. Go to [news.google.com](https://news.google.com/) and search any topic. This will give us a URL like this: `https://news.google.com/search?q=crab` Now after the `.com/` add `rss` and it will take you to the RSS feed of that particular page e.g. `https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=crab` ![How to access Google News RSS feed example](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/gnews_rss_c547f9a740.gif?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:27:50.253Z) Now we have the feed url, we’ll create a Google News RSS Feed scraper **in 5 simple steps**: 1. Fetch the RSS feed using a python library 2. Parse the feed and extract our required data attributes 3. Add dynamic attributes for extra comfort 4. Export the data to csv file 5. Make it more functional ### 1. Fetch & Parse RSS feed For extracting data from the RSS feed, we’re going to use a ready-made easy-to-use library: `feedparser`. #### What is `feedparser`? `feedparser` is a Python library for parsing [RSS feeds](https://rss.com/blog/how-do-rss-feeds-work/) and [Atom feeds](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/difference-between-rss-and-atom). It simplifies the **retrieval and extraction** of structured data from syndicated web content, making it easier to access and work with news articles, blog posts, and other feed-based information. To get started, we need to install it using pip (obviously). Here’s how to do it: ```sh $ pip install feedparser ``` Now let’s import it to our script. Let's create a new python file and import `feedparser`. ```py import feedparser ``` Now let’s create a `scrape_google_news_feed()` function and see how feedparser works. We’ll start by generating the RSS feed URL from the query and then **fetch and parse the feed**. ```py def scrape_google_news_feed(query): rss_url = f'https://news.google.com/rss/search?q={query}&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en' feed = feedparser.parse(rss_url) ``` ### 2. Extract data attributes Now let’s fetch and print the entries of our Google news feed to the console. What entries to scrape? Let’s identify them on our feed page. ![Data attributes highlighted in RSS feed](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/DW_Ef_Wr_AMNU_53863497b2.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:32:00.237Z) So we can fetch title, link, date of publication, description, and source from the RSS feed. Let’s see how: ```py if feed.entries: for entry in feed.entries: title = entry.title link = entry.link description = entry.description pubdate = entry.published source = entry.source print(f"Title: {title}\nLink: {link}\nDescription: {description}\nPublished: {pubdate}\nSource: {source}") print("-+-") else: print("Nothing Found!") ``` Easy! Now let’s give our script a query and execute it. ```py if __name__ == "__main__": query = 'crab' scrape_google_news_feed(query) ``` And here’s the output: ```sh $ python google_news_feed_scraper.py Title: Virginia ponders reopening long-closed winter crab harvest - The Chesapeake Bay Journal Link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYXlqb3VybmFsLmNvbS9uZXdzL2Zpc2hlcmllcy92aXJnaW5pYS1wb25kZXJzLXJlb3BlbmluZy1sb25nLWNsb3NlZC13aW50ZXItY3JhYi1oYXJ2ZXN0L2FydGljbGVfMWZlZTYxNTItNzFhNS0xMWVlLTk3YWEtMWIzMjNiOTRlMjA3Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5 Description: Virginia ponders reopening long-closed winter crab harvest The Chesapeake Bay Journal Published: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 17:45:00 GMT Source: {'href': 'https://www.bayjournal.com', 'title': 'The Chesapeake Bay Journal'} -+- Title: Costa Rica Wildlife - Meet the Halloween Crab : - The Tico Times Link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiTGh0dHBzOi8vdGljb3RpbWVzLm5ldC8yMDIzLzEwLzI0L2Nvc3RhLXJpY2Etd2lsZGxpZmUtbWVldC10aGUtaGFsbG93ZWVuLWNyYWLSAQA?oc=5 Description: Costa Rica Wildlife - Meet the Halloween Crab : The Tico Times Published: Tue, 24 Oct 2023 21:07:00 GMT Source: {'href': 'https://ticotimes.net', 'title': 'The Tico Times'} -+- ``` It works, awesome! 🎉 We’ve scraped all **5 data attributes** from the RSS feed successfully. Now let’s make this code more **organized and maintainable**. How do we do that? We encapsulate it in a class first. Here’s how our updated code looks like: ```py import feedparser class googleNewsFeedScraper: def __init__(self, query): self.query = query def scrape_google_news_feed(self): rss_url = f'https://news.google.com/rss/search?q={self.query}&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en' feed = feedparser.parse(rss_url) if feed.entries: for entry in feed.entries: title = entry.title link = entry.link description = entry.description pubdate = entry.published source = entry.source print(f"Title: {title}\nLink: {link}\nDescription: {description}\nPublished: {pubdate}\nSource: {source}") print("-+-") else: print("Nothing Found!") if __name__ == "__main__": query = 'crab' scraper = googleNewsFeedScraper(query) scraper.scrape_google_news_feed() ``` ### 3. Add dynamic attributes Now we don’t want to edit the query variable in `main` every time we need to run the script. How about using a Google News URL instead of a query? Let’s modify the script to **take a Google News URL and convert it to RSS URL**. We also want the user to enter the URL in the **command line** using an argument like `-u` or `url`. We have the `argparse` module to handle this for us. `argparse` is a [Python module](https://docs.python.org/3/library/argparse.html) for easily parsing command-line arguments and creating user-friendly command-line interfaces for your scripts. It's available in the standard library, so we don’t need to install it. Let’s import it first: ```py import argparse ``` Now first, we need to define a method to convert our Google News URL to RSS url. We can do this using: ```py def convert_to_rss_url(self): if "https://news.google.com/search?" in self.url: self.url = self.url.replace("https://news.google.com/search?", "https://news.google.com/rss/search?") else: raise ValueError("Invalid URL.") ``` Now we’ll define the arguments using `argparse` in our `main()` function. We’ll create an `ArgumentParser` object and use it with `add_argument` to define a command line argument. ```py def main(): parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() parser.add_argument("-u", "--url", type=str, required=True, help="Google News URL") args = parser.parse_args() scraper = GoogleNewsFeedScraper(args.url) scraper.scrape_google_news_feed() ``` Now to execute this updated code, add the final touch: ```py if __name__ == "__main__": main() ``` Let’s execute our code now: ```sh $ python google_news_feed_scraper.py -u "https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen" Title: Why 10 Billion Crabs Suddenly Vanished From the Bering Sea - Popular Mechanics Link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiaWh0dHA6Ly93d3cucG9wdWxhcm1lY2hhbmljcy5jb20vc2NpZW5jZS9hbmltYWxzL2E0NTYxNjUxOC93aHktYmlsbGlvbnMtb2YtY3JhYnMtdmFuaXNoZWQtZnJvbS1iZXJpbmctc2VhL9IBAA?oc=5 Description: Why 10 Billion Crabs Suddenly Vanished From the Bering Sea Popular Mechanics Published: Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:45:07 GMT Source: {'href': 'http://www.popularmechanics.com', 'title': 'Popular Mechanics'} -+- Title: Virginia ponders reopening long-closed winter crab harvest - The Chesapeake Bay Journal Link: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMilgFodHRwczovL3d3dy5iYXlqb3VybmFsLmNvbS9uZXdzL2Zpc2hlcmllcy92aXJnaW5pYS1wb25kZXJzLXJlb3BlbmluZy1sb25nLWNsb3NlZC13aW50ZXItY3JhYi1oYXJ2ZXN0L2FydGljbGVfMWZlZTYxNTItNzFhNS0xMWVlLTk3YWEtMWIzMjNiOTRlMjA3Lmh0bWzSAQA?oc=5 Description: Virginia ponders reopening long-closed winter crab harvest The Chesapeake Bay Journal Published: Mon, 23 Oct 2023 17:45:00 GMT Source: {'href': 'https://www.bayjournal.com', 'title': 'The Chesapeake Bay Journal'} -+- ``` Our boi works smoothly. Bravo ✨ ### 4. Export data to csv But we can’t keep printing the output to the console. It’ll vanish when you close your terminal or command prompt. We want to save the output sustainably. Why not save the collected data within a .csv file? #### 4.1. Save data in a csv We can do it by importing `csv` from the python standard library. ```py import csv ``` Now we’ll initialize an empty list to store the scraped data. ```py def __init__(self, url): self.url = url self.data = [] ``` Now we’ll add a line of code to `feed.entries` to append data to the list: ```py self.data.append([self.url, title, link, pubdate, description, source]) ``` Next, in `main()`, let’s define an output csv file and write data to it: ```py output_file = "google_news_output.csv" with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) ``` Now let’s check if our code saves the data to the csv file. Run the same command again: ```sh $ python google_news_feed_scraper.py -u "https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen" ``` ![Output in csv file](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/f_Da0_Ph3cp_L_a4be3768dc.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:34:45.424Z) And it works! But this csv will be **rewritten** every time we run this script. 🤔 To avoid this, we can either prompt the user to enter a csv filename or we can **generate a unique csv filename** each time we run the script. The second option is good, because it’s automated and does not required any manual commitment. Automation wins. Let’s explore it. #### 4.2. Make file name unique We’ll use the `time` module to create a csv filename with current time. This will not only make the file unique but also help you track files by time and date. ```py import time ``` Now let’s create a new variable to generate a timestamp and modify the `output_file` variable to include the timestamp in name: ```py current_time = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S") output_file = f"google_news_{current_time}.csv" ``` OK working clean! ### 5. Make it more functional Let’s make our script perfect by adding additional functionality. What if we have **100 URLs** to scrape? What if we need to scrape **only top 10** news from each URL? Let’s solve this problem too. We’ll thus solve both problems: * handle multiple URLs * add limit Time for functionalities enhancement. #### 5.1. Handling multiple URLs To make our powerful parser handle multiple URLs without a sweat, we’ll make the changes to our code. Our `__init__` constructor changes to the following, with an empty list to store data from each URL. ```py def __init__(self): self.data = [] ``` To convert URLs from the list, used the `converted_url` variable in `scrape_google_news_feed()` : ```py converted_url = self.convert_to_rss_url(url) feed = feedparser.parse(converted_url) ``` And finally, in `main()`, to give users the choice to choose between url or file, we changed the arguments to mutually exclusive groups and added a new argument. ```py group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) group.add_argument("-u", "--url", type=str, help="Google News URL") group.add_argument("-f", "--file", type=str, help="File containing Google News URLs") args = parser.parse_args() ``` And to read from urls file, we added this simple condition: ```py if args.file: with open(args.file, "r") as url_file: urls = url_file.read().splitlines() ``` Here’s how the full code looks like now: ```py class GoogleNewsFeedScraper: def __init__(self): self.data = [] def convert_to_rss_url(self, url): if url.startswith("https://news.google.com/search?"): return url.replace("https://news.google.com/search?", "https://news.google.com/rss/search?") else: raise ValueError("Invalid URL.") def scrape_google_news_feed(self, url): converted_url = self.convert_to_rss_url(url) feed = feedparser.parse(converted_url) if feed.entries: for entry in feed.entries: title = entry.title link = entry.link description = entry.description pubdate = entry.published source = entry.source self.data.append([url, title, link, pubdate, description, source]) else: print("Nothing Found!") def main(): parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) group.add_argument("-u", "--url", type=str, help="Google News URL") group.add_argument("-f", "--file", type=str, help="File containing Google News URLs") args = parser.parse_args() scraper = GoogleNewsFeedScraper() current_time = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S") output_file = f"google_news_{current_time}.csv" if args.file: with open(args.file, "r") as url_file: urls = url_file.read().splitlines() with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for url in urls: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(url) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) else: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(args.url) if __name__ == "__main__": main() ``` #### 5.2. Add limit Now let’s add the limit. First add a limit parameter to `__init__` and we’ll also add a `self.limit` attribute to store the data within the limit. ```py def __init__(self, limit=None): self.limit = limit self.data = [] ``` Next, in `scrape_google_news_feed`, apply the limit to the `entries` list by slicing it using `self.limit` if a limit is specified. ```py if self.limit: entries = feed.entries[:self.limit] else: entries = feed.entries ``` Finally in the `main()` function, add a `-l` or `--limit` argument and create a `scraper` object with `args.limit` parameter to pass the limit to the scraper. ```py parser.add_argument("-l", "--limit", type=int, help="Limit the number of results per URL") args = parser.parse_args() scraper = GoogleNewsFeedScraper(args.limit) current_time = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S") output_file = f"google_news_{current_time}.csv" if args.file: with open(args.file, "r") as url_file: urls = url_file.read().splitlines() with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for url in urls: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(url) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) else: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(args.url) ``` Let’s test the limit and file feature. Run the following command: ```sh $ python google_news_feed_scraper.py -f urls.txt -l 10 ``` Here we go: ![Another csv file with 10 scraped Google News results](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/x_Jp0wd5_C_Te_d95fd8d4b2.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:37:12.112Z) And with that, we’ve created a powerful multi-functionalities Google News scraper. Here’s the **full code**. ```py import feedparser import argparse import csv import time class GoogleNewsFeedScraper: def __init__(self, limit=None): self.limit = limit self.data = [] def convert_to_rss_url(self, url): if url.startswith("https://news.google.com/search?"): return url.replace("https://news.google.com/search?", "https://news.google.com/rss/search?") else: raise ValueError("Invalid URL.") def scrape_google_news_feed(self, url): converted_url = self.convert_to_rss_url(url) feed = feedparser.parse(converted_url) if self.limit: entries = feed.entries[:self.limit] else: entries = feed.entries if feed.entries: for entry in entries: title = entry.title link = entry.link description = entry.description pubdate = entry.published source = entry.source self.data.append([url, title, link, pubdate, description, source]) else: print("Nothing Found!") def main(): parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) group.add_argument("-u", "--url", type=str, help="Google News URL") group.add_argument("-f", "--file", type=str, help="File containing Google News URLs") parser.add_argument("-l", "--limit", type=int, help="Limit the number of results per URL") args = parser.parse_args() scraper = GoogleNewsFeedScraper(args.limit) current_time = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S") output_file = f"google_news_{current_time}.csv" if args.file: with open(args.file, "r") as url_file: urls = url_file.read().splitlines() with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for url in urls: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(url) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) else: scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(args.url) if __name__ == "__main__": main() ``` But it looks extremely nerdy, with no documentation, nor helpful documentation. In order to ensure long-term maintainability, and ease readability, let’s tackle this now. #### 5.3. Garnish it with exceptions Well, it’s functionally powerful but… Let’s make it sexy! [Documenting code though is an extremely… boring activity](https://www.reddit.com/r/softwaredevelopment/comments/hrvdbp/why_do_developers_hate_writing_documentation_is/), we never doubted of it: ![Reddit featured snippet answering Why developers hate writing documentation](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/reddit_why_devs_hate_doc_133debd386.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:28.253Z) How can we fix it? Let’s take some help from [ChatGPT](https://openai.com/). If [ChatGPT sometimes is inventing entire areas of knowledge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ChatGPT_hallucination.png), GPT is doing an exceptional job at commenting on ready-made content. Let’s use it to **add exceptions** and **print statements** to the code to make it more readable and user-friendly. So first we asked our AI coding partner to add exceptions to our code: ![ChatGPT screenshot with prompt to add exceptions to scrape Google News Python code](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/gptexceptionsinput_40370d2a3b.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:28.029Z) Now let’s see what it generated for us: ![ChatGPT response containing code with exceptions](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/gptforexception_d04cd69192.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:29.343Z) Now let’s add some print statements too. We’ll ask ChatGPT to add print statements to print the url we’re scraping, elapsed time, and output file to the console. ![ChatGPT response print statements added to Google News scraper code](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/gptforprint_dd0804d091.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:27.788Z) Now let’s run the code to check if GPT did a good job or it messed up ([like it notoriously does sometimes](https://www.ibm.com/topics/ai-hallucinations)). #### 5.4. Add unforgettable chef-like signature Last thing, like an aspiring grand chef (let’s hope so 🥹) let’s add our **hot signature** before running the code. First, let’s visit this old-school stylish signature making: [https://patorjk.com/](https://patorjk.com/). Then, let’s simply type the name of the company, and picked the font as Isometric 1: [https://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&f=Isometric1&t=lobstr](https://patorjk.com/software/taag/#p=display&f=Isometric1&t=lobstr) ![lobstr ascii text signature](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/lobstr_ascii_signature_9c5d7ec2e8.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:28.654Z) Endly, let’s just insert it at the end of the code: ```py print(f"Total Elapsed Time: {total_elapsed_time} seconds") print('''~~ success ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ /\__\ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /:/ / /::\ \ /::\ \ /::\ \ \:\ \ /::\ \ /:/ / /:/\:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/\ \ \ \:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/ / /:/ \:\ \ /::\~\:\__\ _\:\~\ \ \ /::\ \ /::\~\:\ \ /:/__/ /:/__/ \:\__\ /:/\:\ \:|__| /\ \:\ \ \__\ /:/\:\__\ /:/\:\ \:\__\ \:\ \ \:\ \ /:/ / \:\~\:\/:/ / \:\ \:\ \/__/ /:/ \/__/ \/_|::\/:/ / \:\ \ \:\ /:/ / \:\ \::/ / \:\ \:\__\ /:/ / |:|::/ / \:\ \ \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \/__/ |:|\/__/ \:\__\ \::/ / \::/__/ \::/ / |:| | \/__/ \/__/ ~~ \/__/ \|__| ''') ``` Unforgettable. ## Full Code So here’s how our complete code will look like: ```py import feedparser import argparse import csv import time import requests import sys class GoogleNewsFeedScraper: def __init__(self, limit=None): self.limit = limit self.data = [] def convert_to_rss_url(self, url): if url.startswith("https://news.google.com/search?"): return url.replace("https://news.google.com/search?", "https://news.google.com/rss/search?") else: return None def scrape_google_news_feed(self, url): try: converted_url = self.convert_to_rss_url(url) if converted_url is None: raise ValueError("Invalid URL.") feed = feedparser.parse(converted_url) if self.limit: entries = feed.entries[:self.limit] else: entries = feed.entries if feed.entries: for entry in entries: title = entry.title link = entry.link description = entry.description pubdate = entry.published source = entry.source self.data.append([url, title, link, pubdate, description, source]) else: print("Nothing Found!") except feedparser.FeedParserDict as e: print(f"Error parsing the feed: {e}") except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e: print(f"Network error: {e}") def main(): start_time = time.time() # Start tracking time parser = argparse.ArgumentParser() group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group(required=True) group.add_argument("-u", "--url", type=str, help="Google News URL") group.add_argument("-f", "--file", type=str, help="File containing Google News URLs") parser.add_argument("-l", "--limit", type=int, help="Limit the number of results per URL") args = parser.parse_args() scraper = GoogleNewsFeedScraper(args.limit) current_time = time.strftime("%Y-%m-%d-%H-%M-%S") output_file = f"google_news_{current_time}.csv" try: if args.file: with open(args.file, "r") as url_file: urls = url_file.read().splitlines() with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for url in urls: print(f"Scraping URL: {url}") start_time_url = time.time() scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(url) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) elapsed_time_url = time.time() - start_time_url print(f"Elapsed Time for {url}: {elapsed_time_url} seconds") print(f"Data saved to file: {output_file}") else: print(f"Scraping URL: {args.url}") start_time_url = time.time() scraper.scrape_google_news_feed(args.url) elapsed_time_url = time.time() - start_time_url with open(output_file, "w", newline="") as csvfile: csv_writer = csv.writer(csvfile) csv_writer.writerow(["Input URL", "Title", "Link", "Published", "Description", "Source"]) for row in scraper.data: csv_writer.writerow(row) print(f"Elapsed Time for {args.url}: {elapsed_time_url} seconds") print(f"Data saved to file: {output_file}") except KeyboardInterrupt: print("Operation interrupted by the user.") sys.exit(1) except ValueError as e: print(f"Invalid URL: {e}") total_elapsed_time = time.time() - start_time # Calculate total elapsed time print(f"Total Elapsed Time: {total_elapsed_time} seconds") print('''~~ success ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ /\__\ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /:/ / /::\ \ /::\ \ /::\ \ \:\ \ /::\ \ /:/ / /:/\:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/\ \ \ \:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/ / /:/ \:\ \ /::\~\:\__\ _\:\~\ \ \ /::\ \ /::\~\:\ \ /:/__/ /:/__/ \:\__\ /:/\:\ \:|__| /\ \:\ \ \__\ /:/\:\__\ /:/\:\ \:\__\ \:\ \ \:\ \ /:/ / \:\~\:\/:/ / \:\ \:\ \/__/ /:/ \/__/ \/_|::\/:/ / \:\ \ \:\ /:/ / \:\ \::/ / \:\ \:\__\ /:/ / |:|::/ / \:\ \ \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \/__/ |:|\/__/ \:\__\ \::/ / \::/__/ \::/ / |:| | \/__/ \/__/ ~~ \/__/ \|__| ''') if __name__ == "__main__": main() ``` And here’s our output: ```sh $ python google_news_feed_scraper.py -f urls.txt -l 5 Scraping URL: https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen Elapsed Time for https://news.google.com/search?q=crab&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen: 4.065908432006836 seconds Scraping URL: https://news.google.com/search?q=lobster&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen Elapsed Time for https://news.google.com/search?q=lobster&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen: 2.0368733406066895 seconds Data saved to file: google_news_2023-10-25-23-13-51.csv Total Elapsed Time: 6.106725215911865 seconds ~~ ~~ success ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ /\__\ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /\ \ /:/ / /::\ \ /::\ \ /::\ \ \:\ \ /::\ \ /:/ / /:/\:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/\ \ \ \:\ \ /:/\:\ \ /:/ / /:/ \:\ \ /::\~\:\__\ _\:\~\ \ \ /::\ \ /::\~\:\ \ /:/__/ /:/__/ \:\__\ /:/\:\ \:|__| /\ \:\ \ \__\ /:/\:\__\ /:/\:\ \:\__\ \:\ \ \:\ \ /:/ / \:\~\:\/:/ / \:\ \:\ \/__/ /:/ \/__/ \/_|::\/:/ / \:\ \ \:\ /:/ / \:\ \::/ / \:\ \:\__\ /:/ / |:|::/ / \:\ \ \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \:\/:/ / \/__/ |:|\/__/ \:\__\ \::/ / \::/__/ \::/ / |:| | \/__/ \/__/ ~~ \/__/ \|__| ``` And here’s the output csv file: ![CSV file with google news scraper's output](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/final_output_0c13127eed.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:46:29.572Z) Complete success. ## Is it legal to scrape Google News? Google News functions as a news aggregator and doesn't own the content it displays. The intellectual property belongs to the content creators. But [Google's terms of service](https://policies.google.com/terms?gl=US&hl-en#toc-content:~:text=of%20problems%20section.-,Permission%20to%20use%20your%20content,-Some%20of%20our) do clarify that **publicly available factual information** falls under common knowledge that **everyone’s free to use**. Furthermore, a recent update to Google's privacy policy has expanded the use of publicly shared information for [AI model training and product development](https://dig.watch/updates/googles-updated-privacy-policy-allows-web-scraping-for-all-ai-tools). ![Is it legal to scrape Google News? - answer from Google terms of usage](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/google_tos_8b692f5b7f.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:53:31.480Z) So all you need to take care of is not to reproduce or distribute the data that is protected by copyright. As long as you don't violate that, **it's fully legal** to scrape Google News. However, reproducing and distributing scraped content without permission is a clear violation of copyright laws, and it could result in [DMCA takedown](https://www.dmca.com/FAQ/What-is-a-DMCA-Takedown) penalties and legal action. You can learn more about [blocking scraped content here.](https://support.google.com/news/publisher-center/answer/9520026?hl=en-GB) ## Limitations The RSS feed scraper has its own limitations. RSS feed only shows **100 articles** per query, which means you can scrape up to maximum 100 articles. Also the script depends on your **internet connection speed**. Slow internet can make them slow or abort the run. Endly, be careful, because if pulling data too fast, **your IP might be blocked**. While developing our Google News Feed Parser, we scraped 15 URLs and thus did not face any ban attempt from Google. Though, while exploring possible limits, we found [this](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22657548/is-it-ok-to-scrape-data-from-google-results) insight on trustworthy StackOverflow: ![Stackoverflow answer explaning when can Google ban your Google News Scraping script](https://d37gzvgyugjozl.cloudfront.net/scraping_limits_a963d54486.png?updated_at=2023-11-08T11:53:31.454Z) If you want collect as many news as needed with no limitation, as well as prevent being banned at any cost, **you can test our powerful [no-code Google News scraper](https://lobstr.io/blog/how-to-scrape-google-news-without-writing-single-line-of-code)**. > With the [free plan](https://lobstr.io/pricing), you can scrape with lobstr **up to 2700 articles per day**, every day. And it’s materially **free forever**. ## Conclusion So wrapping up. This was my complete journey of creating a Google News Scraper without any API. If you're a python newbie (like me) you can play around with this code. For awesome Python and web scraping tutorials, check out our [blog](https://lobstr.io/blog). You’ll find plenty of rich programming resources. Also, try our **[no-code scraper to scrape Google News without a sweat](https://lobstr.io/store/06faf01896336c01ffb5e96d13dd406c/google-news-search-export)**. Happy Scraping. 🦞

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