Should I use Yelp scraper or the official Fusion API?
Both approaches have their place. Here's when to use each one.
Use Parseium Yelp Scraper when:
You need complete data
- Full review text: Official API only provides excerpts (160 characters)
- All reviews: Access all reviews, not just the first three
- Complete business info: Photos, all amenities, full hours
- Flexible extraction: Get exactly the data structure you need
- No API approval: Start scraping immediately
Higher volume needs
- Beyond free tier: Official API limited to 5000 calls/day on free tier
- Cost-effective scaling: Pay only for scraping credits
- Custom rate limits: Configure your own throttling
Advanced use cases
- Historical data: Archive reviews and ratings over time
- Competitor monitoring: Track multiple businesses continuously
- Market analysis: Aggregate data across categories and locations
- Custom workflows: Extract data that doesn't fit API structure
Use Yelp Fusion API when:
You need official support
- Terms compliance: Official API is explicitly permitted
- Stable endpoints: Less likely to break with site changes
- Support: Access to Yelp's developer support
- Free tier sufficient: 5000 calls/day meets your needs
Basic data needs
- Business search: Find businesses by category, location, keywords
- Basic info: Name, rating, address, phone, hours
- Review excerpts: First 160 characters of top reviews
- Photos: Access to business photos
Feature comparison
| Feature | Parseium Scraper | Yelp Fusion API |
|---|---|---|
| Full review text | ✅ Yes | ❌ Excerpts only |
| All reviews | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Limited (3 reviews) |
| Complete photos | ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Limited |
| Search functionality | ✅ Yes | ✅ Yes |
| Business details | ✅ Complete | ⚠️ Limited fields |
| Rate limits | ⚠️ Self-managed | ✅ 5000/day (free) |
| Official support | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Setup time | ⚠️ 5 minutes | ⚠️ 10 minutes |
| Cost | Pay per scrape | Free tier, then paid |
Best of both worlds
Many teams use both:
- Fusion API for basic business search and discovery
- Parseium scraper for detailed review analysis and complete data
Bottom line
Use scraping for:
- Complete review text analysis
- All reviews, not just top 3
- Historical review tracking
- High-volume data extraction
- Custom data structures
- Competitor monitoring at scale
Use Fusion API for:
- Simple business search
- Basic business information
- Official terms compliance
- Low-volume applications (< 5000 requests/day)
- When review excerpts are sufficient
For comprehensive review analysis, sentiment tracking, and complete business data, the Parseium scraper provides access to all publicly visible information that the official API restricts or omits.