Globally, about 50% of internet users post online reviews every month. Considering that there are over 4.9 billion internet users worldwide, the amount of data generated every month is quite voluminous. These reviews contain a wealth of information that, when harnessed, offer insights that could provide competitive advantages. These benefits, which we will explore later, demonstrate why tracking customers’ reviews through review monitoring, is always a good idea. This article will also explore how to reap maximum benefit through residential proxies.
What is Review Monitoring?
Review monitoring is a type of web scraping. It refers to the ongoing process of actively looking at online conversations posted on social media platforms or e-commerce sites’ review sections with the aim of collecting relevant data based on prevailing needs. Specifically, it entails monitoring brand mentions as well as feedback posted on review sites or e-commerce pages. Review monitoring offers numerous benefits that give businesses a competitive edge over their competition.
Benefits of Review Monitoring
Review monitoring offers the following benefits:
- It provides relevant information that helps businesses create and maintain a positive brand image
- Review monitoring offers insights into how to improve the customer experience as well as existing products and services – it provides information on how to satisfy customers
- It provides data on emerging trends, especially when businesses monitor what customers post about their competition
- Some terms are likely to appear more frequently than others, enabling companies to identify the problem and quickly resolve the cause
- The regularly used terms can help business better optimize their products and website for SEO (search engine optimization)
Challenges Affecting Review Monitoring
Although review monitoring offers numerous advantages, it is not always smooth. This is because of a few challenges that may hinder review tracking. These include:
- Geo-restriction
- CAPTCHAs
- IP bans and blacklisting
- Login and signup requirements
- Dynamically changing websites
- Complex website structures
1. Geo-restriction
Geo-restriction refers to the practice whereby websites show content based on location. And in some cases, these websites and their content may not be available in specific countries. If e-commerce sites practice geo-blocking, tracking reviews may not be possible, mainly if you sell products in that country through a proxy or supplier.
2. CAPTCHAs
Usually, websites implement anti-scraping measures, one of which is the CAPTCHA. CAPTCHA puzzles prevent seamless review tracking.
3. IP Bans and Blacklisting
IP banning or blacklisting is another example of an anti-scraping method. Usually, web servers block IP addresses from which multiple unusual requests originate. And considering the bots that track reviews and collect the requisite data normally send multiple HTTP requests simultaneously, IP blacklisting is always a likely possibility. IP blacklisting, therefore, hinders review tracking.
4. Login and Sign in Requirements
Signing up for an account or logging in to the site is usually taken as an acceptance of the terms of service, which may restrict web scraping. Thus, websites that hide content such as reviews behind a login page usually block review tracking.
5. Dynamically Changing Website Structure
Although complex website structures and dynamically changing content are designed to improve the user experience, they usually impact web scraping. By extension, therefore, they affect review monitoring.
Overcoming the Challenges Impacting Review Monitoring
The evolution of technology has created tools that can be used to solve the challenges affecting review monitoring. Such tools facilitate large-scale review tracking involving multiple websites. They include:
- Proxies such as residential proxies
- Advanced review monitoring bots
1. Proxies
A proxy or proxy server refers to a computer found midway between a web client (browser) and a web server. It assigns the device a new IP address, thereby anonymizing the traffic originating from that computer.
There are multiple types of proxies, including residential proxies, datacenter proxies, forward proxies, reverse proxies, HTTP proxies, transparent proxies, and more. Residential proxies are preferred/recommended for applications such as review monitoring among these various types.
Residential proxies assign IP addresses that belong to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and are, therefore, associated with real users. Web servers do not easily block such IP addresses, meaning the process of monitoring reviews proceeds unabated. In addition to solving IP bans, residential proxies can also be used to access geo-blocked content.
2. Advanced Review Monitoring Bots
These bots are equipped with CAPTCHA solving tools and additional advanced solutions that guarantee a 100% success rate. Review monitoring tools also ensure efficiency for gathering large-scale data from multiple websites. The advanced web scrapers also have a 24/7 runtime, implying that they can collect up-to-date information (real-time data collection).
Conclusion
Review monitoring is a beneficial undertaking for businesses worldwide. It enables them to stay on top of trends and provides a competitive advantage. Additionally, it helps companies keep their customers satisfied by allowing them to spot issues in real-time that they can then address. But tracking reviews is not always straightforward, so it is advisable to use residential proxies and advanced review monitoring bots.
