Case Study: Social Media Content Scraping from 9GAG
The Challenge
Our client, a media analytics startup, wanted to extract memes, posts, categories, engagement metrics, and user data from 9GAG to study viral trends, audience behavior, and content performance. The goal was to build a trend-tracking dashboard that could identify top-performing memes in real time.
Hurdles We Faced
- Dynamic Infinite Scrolling: 9GAG continuously loads new posts via asynchronous APIs.
- Media Handling: Each post could include images, GIFs, or videos hosted on different CDNs.
- Engagement Metrics Extraction: Likes, shares, and comment counts updated dynamically.
- Anti-Bot Protection: The site implemented IP throttling and bot detection mechanisms.
Our Step-by-Step Approach
Requirement Analysis:
Defined key fields — post title, category, media URL, likes, comments, shares, and user details.
API Reverse Engineering:
Inspected 9GAG’s network requests to identify hidden endpoints returning structured JSON data for posts and categories.
Custom Scraper Development:
Developed a Python-based scraper capable of fetching both media content and metadata efficiently.
Proxy Rotation & Anti-Bot Bypass:
Used rotating proxies, randomized user agents, and timed request delays to maintain uninterrupted data flow.
Data Structuring & Storage:
Organized extracted data into a searchable database by category, date, and engagement level for analytics visualization.
Automation Setup:
Scheduled crawlers to collect new trending content periodically, ensuring up-to-date data feeds.
Results & Impact
- Extracted millions of posts with complete engagement and user data.
- Enabled real-time meme trend analysis for marketing and content research.
- Built a scalable solution capable of extending to other social media humor platforms.
Our Services & Expertise
At Ascendance Solutions, we specialize in:
- Social Media & Content Scraping
- Trend & Sentiment Data Collection
- Proxy & API-Based Crawling for Dynamic Platforms
- Real-Time Analytics Data Pipelines
📧 Connect with us at connect@ascendancesolutions.com to automate 9GAG or other social media data scraping for trend analysis, research, or content insights.
