Facebook Search Groups Results Scraper

How it works

This actor allows you to scrape facebook groups from search and get important details such as group name, description, is group public or private, group members count, activity and group URL.

Features

Multiple Search Queries: Supports scraping based on multiple search URLs, formatted as https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=your_query. Required Authentication over cookies: Users can log in to access a broader range of questions and answers. Customizable: Flexible configuration options to suit various scraping needs.

How to Use

1. Set Up: Ensure you have an Apify account and access to the Apify platform.
2. Install EditThisCookie chrome extension.
3. Login to your facebook account
4. While you are on facebook tab, Click on the extension and export the cookies
5. Paste the cookies to this actor's Cookie input field
6. Specify the Facebook group URL you want to scrape. Input your search URLs in the format https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=your_query. You can add multiple URLs for a broader search scope.
7. Set Max groups to scrape limits to determine the number of groups to scrape.
8. Set Min delay for scroll and Max delay for scroll to ensure facebook doesn't block you and to get maximum resutls.
9. (Optional) Configure proxy settings for enhanced reliability.
10. Run the actor and obtain the extracted data in your preferred format.
11. Data Collection: The scraper will output data in your chosen format, which can include JSON, HTML, CSV, Excel, or others as supported by Apify.

Input Data

Here's a simple example of how to set up a search for "medical" groups in Facebook:

1{
2    "cookies": [
3        {
4            "domain": ".facebook.com",
5            "expirationDate": 1740231415.466268,
6            "hostOnly": false,
7            "httpOnly": false,
8            "name": "c_user",
9            "path": "/",
10            "sameSite": "no_restriction",
11            "secure": true,
12            "session": false,
13            "storeId": "0",
14            "value": "1248804295",
15            "id": 1
16        }
17    ],
18    "maxDelay": 5,
19    "maxGroups": 100,
20    "minDelay": 2,
21    "proxyConfiguration": {
22        "useApifyProxy": true,
23        "apifyProxyGroups": [
24            "RESIDENTIAL"
25        ]
26    },
27    "startUrls": [
28        {
29            "url": "https://www.facebook.com/search/groups/?q=medical"
30        }
31    ]
32}

Output Structure

The output data typically includes:

1[
2    {
3        "photo": "https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.18172-8/12633639_172593196446940_4661060803058728181_o.jpg?stp=cp0_dst-jpg_p64x64&_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=b81613&_nc_ohc=eca5tXgVPpkAX-AIwnn&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfDWffm8VHeDE4AYrrTZV1Q1Ay6Nk-qEOuRu03WvJYUAjQ&oe=66014981",
4        "groupName": "Medical Updates",
5        "groupDescription": "Medical Updates",
6        "isPublic": "Public",
7        "numberOfMembers": "7K members",
8        "postActivity": "3 posts a day",
9        "link": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/gastro2016/?__tn__=%3C"
10    },
11    {
12        "photo": "https://scontent-ord5-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/163532758_102811758576204_8586165576917200705_n.jpg?stp=c10.0.64.64a_cp0_dst-jpg_p64x64&_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=b81613&_nc_ohc=IoTogxqQmroAX-z9GjM&_nc_ht=scontent-ord5-2.xx&oh=00_AfBv4kaMeUdDLYdbn0UYwMZUf7iiPiXLM6u1ncnZfZfLBA&oe=66013864",
13        "groupName": "Medical Equipments/ OTC medicines",
14        "groupDescription": "Medical Equipments/ OTC medicines",
15        "isPublic": "Public",
16        "numberOfMembers": "551 members",
17        "postActivity": "5 posts a week",
18        "link": "https://www.facebook.com/groups/479233583230903/?__tn__=%3C"
19    },
20    ...
21]

Best Practices

• Rate Limiting: Respect facebooks's terms of service by avoiding overly frequent requests.
• Ensure min and max delay so facebook doesn't block you.
• Error Handling: Implement robust error handling to manage request failures or unexpected data formats.
• Data Storage: Utilize Apify's data storage solutions for efficient data management.