Indeed
Scraping Teardown
Find out everything you need to know to reliably scrape Indeed,
including scraping guides, Github Repos, proxy performance and more.
Indeed Web Scraping Overview
Indeed implements multiple layers of protection to prevent automated data extraction. This section provides an overview of its anti-bot systems and common challenges faced when scraping, along with insights into how these protections work and potential strategies to navigate them.
Scraping Summary
Indeed is one of the prominent job advertising websites offering job listing services worldwide. The site is in high demand for web scraping purposes as recruiters and job-seekers often want to extract job offers or applicant data. Indeed uses some anti-scraping mechanisms such as IP rate limiting to block automated bots, however, they do not employ complex anti-scraping systems like Datadome or Cloudflare. To scrape, one must follow a staggered, respectful crawling approach with different IP address attribution to avoid triggering anti-scraping measures.
From a parsing perspective, the structure of Indeed is relatively straightforward with static HTML structure, consistent CSS identifiers, and no obvious evidence of content spoofing, which should make scrapng easier. However, keep in mind that some content may be geolocated or behind logins, making it challenging to access without appropriate permissions. Overall, the difficulty lies more in the access, rather than the parsing.
Subdomains
Best Indeed Proxies
Proxy statistics and optimal proxy providers for scraping Indeed. Learn which proxy types work best, their success rates, and how to minimize bans with the right provider.
Indeed Anti-Bots
Anti-scraping systems used by Indeed to prevent web scraping. These systems can make it harder and more expensive to scrape the website but can be bypassed with the right tools and strategies.
Indeed Data
Explore the key data types available for scraping and alternative methods such as public APIs, to streamline your web data extraction process.
Data Types
No data types found
Indeed Web Scraping Legality
Understand the legal considerations before scraping Indeed. Review the website's robots.txt file, terms & conditions, and any past lawsuits to assess the risks. Ensure compliance with applicable laws and minimize the chances of legal action.
Legality Review
Indeed is adamant in its position against web scraping and automated access. Its robots.txt file exemplifies this stance, heavily restricting general user agents' activities with various Disallow: /jobs?q=, Disallow: /salaries?, and Disallow: /cmp/ directives. Some user agents, mainly specialized or recognized ones, are granted slightly more access, with Allow: /m/jobs and Allow: /viewjob permissions, but the restrictions for the most informative part of the site still hold. This position is reiterated in the company's terms of service, which explicitly proscribe the use of automated tools to mine job listings, employer details, or user data, with the prohibitions extensively covering all areas of the site.
Non-compliance with Indeed’s policies carries considerable risk, including legal action, IP blocking, and account bans, as the rules apply universally regardless of a user's agreement to the terms. However, some legal leeways exist for general purpose internet search engines. To taper these risks while engaging in web scraping activities, one should strive to comply with the robots.txt file protocols. Technical measures such as adhering to the rate limits, avoiding bypassing CAPTCHAs or login requirements, and refraining from accessing disallowed paths can help. Also, seeking explicit written permission for data access may prove beneficial for legal scraping. Given Indeed’s firm stance against unauthorized data access, any scraping activities should be undertaken with caution.
Indeed Robots.txt
Does Indeed robot.txt permit web scraping?
Summary
The robots.txt file for Indeed specifies varying levels of access depending on the specific crawler. While general user agents are significantly restricted with numerous Disallow: /jobs?q=, Disallow: /salaries?, and Disallow: /cmp/ directives, causing substantial barriers for typical web scraping activities, certain specialized user agents are given a slightly more lenient set of rules to follow.
The file lists a series of Allow: /m/jobs and Allow: /viewjob directives for specific user agents providing them selective access. For normal web scrapers, gaining access to primary informative parts of Indeed is particular challenging owing to these extensive disallow rules. Overall, Indeed's robots.txt implementation suggests a guarded posture, permitting access only under certain circumstances and to certain user agents.
Indeed Terms & Conditions
Does Indeed Terms & Conditions permit web scraping?
Summary
The terms of service for Indeed unambiguously prohibit automated access and web scraping. The terms include clear language forbidding the use of automated tools to extract job listings, employer information, or user data, and apply this restriction across all areas of the site (public and authenticated). One relevant quote states:
"You may not use robots, spiders, or other automated means to access the Services for any purpose."[1]
An additional blockquote illustrating Indeed's stance on data extraction is:
"Copying, collecting, storing, or accessing any content available on the Site in a manner inconsistent with its intended use" is disallowed.[1]
While the enforceability of these restrictions may depend on whether a user has explicitly agreed to the terms (for example, by creating an account), Indeed frames its prohibition on scraping as universally applicable, and includes further technical disincentives—such as a robots.txt file that disallows bots from accessing major content paths.
Indeed does not provide a public API for commercial or academic access to job data; attempts to bypass technical barriers like logins, rate limits, or CAPTCHAs are treated as violations of terms. The terms and related enforcement actions (such as IP blocking, account bans, and legal action) make unauthorized scraping of Indeed.com high-risk and generally forbidden without explicit written permission.[1][2][3]
Indeed Lawsuits
Legal Actions Against Scrapers: A history of lawsuits filed by the website owner against scrapers and related entities, highlighting legal disputes, claims, and outcomes.
Lawsuits Summary
Indeed has not been involved in any known legal disputes related to web scraping.
Found 0 lawsuits
Indeed Github Repos
Find the best open-source scrapers for Indeed on Github. Clone them and start scraping straight away.
Language
Code Level
Stars
Sorry, there is no github repo available.
Indeed Web Scraping Articles
Find the best web scraping articles for Indeed. Learn how to get started scraping Indeed.
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Indeed Web Scraping Videos
Find the best web scraping videos for Indeed. Learn how to get started scraping Indeed.