Automation Guidance & Advice: Google -> Screenscrape -> Airtable

[Andrew_Gattas]

I’m trying to figure out how to automate mostly what has been a highly manually process. I’ve been tasked with researching 100+ companies for a common set of data (e.g., revenue, headcount, company overview, location, headcount, etc., and have found it is literally just me googling company and usually populating information from google or at most clicking on a link or two + going to the company’s website. There has to be a better way but I’m so new to this tool and no code / low code solutions. Anyone willing to nudge me to some tools I might be able to use to save time?

[Bill_French]

Hi @Andrew_Gattas, and welcome to the community!

Andrew_Gattas:

There has to be a better way

And you are right. There is a much better way. This RapidAPI resource provides a universal way to query all of these services. This is known as the data enrichment sector and companies like Crunchbase collect and distribute all sorts of company data. Some charge, some don’t like AMEE for example.

Automated screenscraping is a bad idea because it is brittle, imprecise, and may get your IP address banned. The better approach is to craft an API process, gather all the commonly known information and then use human effort to fill in anything that isn’t openly exposed.

Populating 100+ (even thousands of records) with all sorts of company data is possible using the script block in Airtable or a Google Apps Script app in Workspaces.

[ScottWorld]

Welcome to the community, @Andrew_Gattas !

Airtable’s web clipper app might help you out a bit. Note that it only works in Chrome.

[Andrew_Gattas]

Bill and Scott - thanks for the warm welcome. The guidance is much appreciated. I’m checking this out right now. Get ready to see me around asking questions. Can’t pay it back so I’ll pay it fwd. Keep on shining!

[Bill_French]

Andrew_Gattas:

Can’t pay it back so I’ll pay it fwd.

I hope to live forever, so forward is fine.