Need to track changes across a large number of web pages? Our Bulk Monitor feature can help you with that. You can set up monitors for up to 50,000 URLs with just a few clicks, saving you time and effort while keeping you informed about important updates.
NOTE: This feature is in Private Beta. If you want this feature enabled on your Browse AI dashboard, please get in touch with support.
What is Bulk Monitoring?
In essence, Bulk Monitor combines the power of the Bulk Run and Monitor features. It allows you to apply change monitoring to multiple items simultaneously, either from an existing bulk run task or directly within Tables.
See:
The Bulk Monitor feature eliminates the need to configure individual monitors for each URL, streamlining your workflow and dramatically enhancing your monitoring capabilities – all in a fraction of the time.
How to set up Bulk Monitoring
There are two main ways to utilize this feature: (1) from a Bulk Run, or (2) from Tables.
Setting up Bulk Monitoring from a Bulk Run
Open your existing bulk run task
Click View data in tables
Select Manage monitoring > Config monitoring for all
Configure your monitoring settings
Click Confirm to activate
View your monitors in the Monitor tab
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Setting up Bulk Monitoring directly from Tables
Select your robot
Open the Tables tab
Click Import CSV (located at the bottom-left for larger datasets)
Upload your URL list
Map your data columns (including Origin URLs)
Configure monitoring settings
Click Start extracting data
NOTE: After uploading and mapping, new (blank) rows will populate your Table. This is an expected behavior, as the data will be filled in during the first monitoring run.
Configuring your Monitor
When setting up your monitor, you have two scheduling options:
Basic Scheduling: This allows you to set the frequency (e.g., daily, weekly), days of the week, and approximate time of day for the monitor to run.
Also see: How can I set up monitoring for changes?
Advanced Scheduling (RRULE): This allows you to create more complex and flexible schedules using the RRULE standard. This is useful for scenarios where you need more granular control over the monitoring schedule, such as running the monitor on specific dates or at irregular intervals.
When is Bulk Monitoring useful?
Bulk Monitoring is particularly helpful when you need to track changes across a large number of specific web pages or searches. This is especially useful when compared to deep scraping, where you might be extracting data from dynamic URLs that change frequently.
Here are a few scenarios or use cases where Bulk Monitor shines:
Track price changes for a specific set of products on a competitor website.
Monitor stock availability for a defined list of products on an e-commerce platform.
Stay updated on new job openings across a selected list of company websites or job boards.
Track changes on specific pages of news articles or specific blog posts to stay informed about any updates, additions, or modifications therein.
Want to see all our use cases? Check it out here.