APEX FLOW WEB SCRAPER / REFERENCE LIBRARY
Comparing two web scraping runs
Change detection compares saved observations. A missing page in a later run is not proof that the page or product was deleted.
Compare like with like
Use the same source scope and recipe for both runs. A selector change can look like a content change. Different page budgets can make one run incomplete. Keep run settings and collection times beside the comparison.
Useful levels of comparison
Content hashes help identify identical content. Field-level differences show which values changed. Text differences are useful for articles and policies, but formatting noise can create changes that are irrelevant to the business question.
Apex implementation
The compare tool reports changed fields and text across saved jobs. It labels missing observations cautiously. It does not provide a scheduled monitoring service, immutable snapshot replay or proof that a source removed a record.
Example decision
A price was 24.00 USD in run A and missing in run B. Inspect run B for a blocked request or validation error before calling it a price change. If both runs extracted valid prices, preserve both values and timestamps in the report.
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