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Scraping Recipe Websites

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Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#191

Post by wastedhours »

ghaff wrote: post #109
Guest0918231 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they can do whatever they desire. The issue is when people are required to write life stories and superfluous content not because that's the direction they want to go, and not because it's appealing to their target audience, but because it's the only way they can rank well on Google. On the user side if you only want straightforward recipes, you're out of luck, because they're never going to be near the top of t…

>The issue is when people are required to write life stories and superfluous content not because that's the direction they want to go, and not because it's appealing to their target audience, but because it's the only way they can rank well on Google. Citation needed. When I do a search on, say, Wiener Schnitzel (which I made last night) it looks to me as if the top searches are pretty to the point. Honestly, I tend…

Same for me too - especially in the Google recipe snippets at the top of the search. I find those tend to have more straight recipes, whereas the normal search list has more of the story style.

And for context, I do like reading about the history of a recipe, why it was created etc... not all the stories float my boat, but literally all it takes is a scroll.

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#192

Post by M2Ys4U »

thawaway1837 wrote: post #40
tmountain wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a running joke in our house. I start off wanting to make some mashed potatoes, and time and time again, I have to suffer through someone's life story--the camping trip in North Dakota when Susan's husband first discovered his love of homemade sour cream--etc. Makes me wonder if a super barebones recipe site that literally just has recipes and absolutely no fluff would be something people would gravitate towards.

“Why doesn’t everyone who is putting information out there for free not cater to exactly my needs”. What an utter load of bollocks. These are people who are creating something that they enjoy doing and giving you information you apparently need for free. I don’t understand why anyone would trash their desire to write something that is personal and/or interesting to them about it. And that’s setting aside that these u…

That's not why every single recipe site has these stupid blurbs... it's that Google wants unique prose on the page in order to rank it highly on SERPs

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#193

Post by nojito »

vitiell0 wrote: post #81
selecsosi wrote: post #32

I highly useful tool in my household for dealing with the SEO/tracking scourge that recipe blogs have become is https://www.paprikaapp.com/ . Hoping someday to have some spare time to integrate this with https://grocy.info/ and have a pipeline for recipe -> preparation automation.

You might want to checkout an app I built called Cooklist. It has the features of Paprika + Grocy + Instacart + Pinterest all in one. https://cooklist.co

How are you pulling purchase information from stores?

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#194

Post by reaperducer »

rrrrrrrrrrrryan wrote: post #179
reaperducer wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep. And if Google detects that your page contains a recipe and the microdata isn't perfect, or doesn't include all the things that Google wants so it can show your recipe to people without them clicking through to your site, Google sends you an e-mail through Webmaster Tools telling you to fix it, with the implied threat that your page won't be listed if you don't allow Google to use your work for free.

I'm a little torn with this. On the one hand, it's messed up that Google forces these companies to basically hand over their data, as you put it, but on the other hand, if they don't push companies to do things like this, single-visit webpages like lyrics and recipes inevitably become ad-infested, SEO-driven trash. Maybe if they used a carrot in addition to the stick, it'd feel less sleezy, but I'm not sure what exac…

other hand, if they don't push companies to do things like this, single-visit webpages like lyrics and recipes inevitably become ad-infested, SEO-driven trash

The opposite may also be true. If Google sent visitors to these sites instead of displaying their content without compensation, the sites wouldn't be so desperate to extract every last penny out of the reduced number of people who click through to them.

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#195

Post by Symbiote »

jackewiehose wrote: post #155
Symbiote wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I usually add "BBC" to my search term, which ① gets a straightforward page and ② ensures the measurements and oven temperatures will be metric. The further from the UK one is, the less useful this is. The measurements should only be a problem in the US and Canada, but common ingredients can change -- e.g. the fat content of cream, or whether canned tomatoes are salted or sweetened. Also, if you're from the rest of th…

> I usually add "BBC" to my search term Do you mean at chefkoch- or google-search? Yes, recipes are very hard to translate. For example I don't know what "cream" is and I never want extra sugar or salt in canned tomatoes.

I mean in Google search, or any other general web search.

It's probably less necessary from the UK, but from Denmark an English-language recipe search has a good chance of giving American websites. Americans have to suffer sugary and salty canned tomatoes.

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#196

Post by dividedbyzero »

evan_ wrote: post #141
dividedbyzero wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Paprika, but what keeps frustrating me is the inability to share recipes with my partner. I can Airdrop a single recipe to her, but doing this for all of them, one byone, super tedious, and then she makes some changes which I'd like to have too, and there seems to be no reliable way to get her changes back on my devices. It's all the more frustrating as Paprika does sync really well, but apparently just within…

Instead of using iCloud sync create an account with their service and log in on both devices with the same account. My wife and I have been using it this way for years and it works really well.

Wow, thanks a lot! I didn't realize you could do this! Just tried and it's perfect.

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#197

Post by dividedbyzero »

taude wrote: post #174
dividedbyzero wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love Paprika, but what keeps frustrating me is the inability to share recipes with my partner. I can Airdrop a single recipe to her, but doing this for all of them, one byone, super tedious, and then she makes some changes which I'd like to have too, and there seems to be no reliable way to get her changes back on my devices. It's all the more frustrating as Paprika does sync really well, but apparently just within…

We just login to each device with the same cloud account. I don't even think it's actually an apple account, because I'm on Android.

Just tried that and it works. I didn't realize you could do this. Thanks!

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#198

Post by blaser-waffle »

C1sc0cat wrote: post #55
dvtrn wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have come to the conclusion that the "fluff" is what most of the recipe-reading public want. I've often heard the prevailing reason why this happens on the web is because of SEO and 'bounce rates'. More time spent on the site improves ranking, so the actual recipe is pushed below the fold so users have to scroll down thereby adding more time on the site. Have often wondered if any SEO wonks with the inside baseball…

I have done lot of work on cocktails (major brand) and they key is the structured mark-up we are trying some tests on longer form listings ie >200 words. I think that food is much more dispersed apart from super stars like Nigella, Jamie and the BBC so its harder for the average food blogger. Also don't discount the target audience for these pages might not be the average developer / nh reader. Also don't discount th…

> Also don't discount the target audience for these pages might not be the average developer / nh reader. Also don't discount the

the what? They got to him, the food bloggers did.

WHAT WERE YOU TRYING TO TELL US

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#199

Post by nicbou »

I just started transcribing every recipe I make. Even if you can extract all the essential information from a recipe site, some changes are needed:

- I need to convert recipes to metric. I am neither equipped nor inclined to cook in freedom units.

- A "can" or a "packet" is not a standard unit of measurement.

- Package sizes vary between countries. I often adjust recipes to avoid wasting food.

- I cook by mass, not volume. I convert the units them round them.

- Instructions are sometimes too verbose. I make them easier to follow while my hands are busy.

- I will make my own changes and I must write them down somewhere.

Besides, sites go down and links break. Food.com broke many of my bookmarks a few years ago. Other sites went dark. My recipes are plain text. They are editable, searchable, editable, and available offline.

Re: Scraping Recipe Websites

#200

Post by nicbou »

shostack wrote: post #98
zwieback wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dakota also owns many beautiful bowls and whisks handmade from sustainable materials, featured in 20 photos before the recipe hidden behind another link I hate blogger recipes, luckily there are enough cooking sites that are well curated.

Don't forget the affiliate links to said bowls.

That's something I'm fine with. It's better than targeted ads, and sometimes answers genuine questions.
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