I'm building a price tracking system and need a reliable source of public web data

For a price tracking system, the most reliable public web data usually comes from sources that are:

1. Legally accessible
2. Structured and stable
3. Frequently updated
4. Clear about terms of use

Here are the best options, depending on your use case:

1. Public APIs

These are usually the most reliable source of product or market prices.

• E-commerce APIs: Amazon Product Advertising API, eBay API, Walmart API, Best Buy API
• Market/financial APIs: Alpha Vantage, Twelve Data, Polygon, IEX Cloud
• Travel APIs: Skyscanner, Amadeus, Expedia partner APIs
• Real estate APIs: Zillow alternatives, county/property data portals

Why use them: structured, consistent, less likely to break than scraping.

2. Official websites with public pages

If no API exists, look for sites that publish prices on publicly accessible pages.

• Product catalog pages
• Deal pages
• Store locator pages with pricing
• Market listings

Note: Make sure the site’s terms allow automated access.

3. Open/public datasets

Useful if you need historical or benchmark pricing.

• Government price indexes
• Central bank / statistical agency data
• Open data portals
• Kaggle/public datasets for prototyping

Examples:

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• World Bank open data
• Eurostat
• Gov open data portals

4. Search-engine indexed data

For broad discovery, you can use:

• Google Shopping-style results via approved APIs
• Merchant feeds
• Price comparison platforms with partner access

5. Your own collected data

If you need long-term reliability, combining:

• API feeds
• Public pages
• Cached snapshots
• Change detection

can be more durable than relying on one source.

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Recommendation

If you want a reliable public web data source for price tracking, start with:

• Official APIs first
• Public product pages second
• Open datasets for history and validation

If you tell me what kind of prices you want to track:

• retail products
• flights/hotels
• stocks/crypto
• grocery
• real estate
• digital goods

…I can suggest the best public sources and help you design the ingestion pipeline.