Definition of Web crawler

A web crawler, also known as a spider or bot, is an automated program or script used by search engines to systematically browse and index content on the internet. The primary purpose of web crawlers is to gather information from web pages, following links from one page to another, and collecting data to create a searchable index. Search engines use these indexes to provide relevant and up-to-date search results to users. Web crawlers start by visiting a set of known web pages and then follow links to other pages, continuing this process recursively. As they crawl the web, they analyze and index the content, including text, images, and other media. Common web crawlers include Googlebot, Bingbot, and others deployed by search engines to keep their search results current and comprehensive.