monitor a listing on a search engine - possible? 1

[wvdba]

hi,
i have been asked by a client to monitor different search engines to see if their website shows up on the first page of the result. i'm somewhat familiar with vbscript. here's what they want:
they want to monitor to see if their website shows up on the first page of the search engine by typing a phrase every 10 minutes to see if they show up on the first page of that engine or not.
example: the website name is

http://www.toms_hardware

the phrase: tankless water heater
is there any way that this can be done?
thanks.

 

[xwb]

1) You can launch IE as

Set objIE = CreateObject("internetexplorer.application")
objIE.visible = True
objIE.navigate "[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.google.com"[/URL]

2) Using sendkeys, you can put the phrases in and hit return.

3) setTimer can be used to kick it off every 10 minutes.

The only problem is reading what the search engine displays. It is probably some sendkey stuff to either dump the source of the page or somehow activate the page search in IE. Problem is I don't know what it returns if it cannot find the text.

 

[wvdba]

thanks xwb,
i'm familiar with sendkey feature. let's say that i go to google page.
how do fill out the search string?
after i fill out the search string, i sendkey "enter"?
then sendkey alt+E and shift+f to open up find dialog
how do i enter find "string"?
thanks.

 

[wvdba]

ok, so far by looking at google's paramater, i found that the string has to be filled like this:
objIE.navigate "

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=www.toms.hardware&btnG=Google+Search"

must figure out the rest of the stuff.
how would i launch firfox application isntead of I.E.?
THANKS.

 

[markdmac]

Use IE. You can then look at InnerHTML to see if the text you want is present.

here is sample code that uses Google to search for my domain The Spider's Parlor.

Set objIE = CreateObject("InternetExplorer.Application")
objIE.Navigate("[URL unfurl="true"]http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=spiders+parlor")[/URL]
Do While objIE.Busy
   WScript.Sleep 500
Loop
Results = objIE.Document.Body.InnerHTML

If InStr(1,Results,"[URL unfurl="true"]www.thespidersparlor.com")[/URL] Then
	WScript.Echo "Found it on first search page"
Else
	WScript.Echo "Time to advertise some more"
End If

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.

 

[wvdba]

thanks mark!
that was great suggestion. i was coding some funky sendkey stuff and so on. i'm going to try this code of yours right now.
thanks a bunch.

 

[wvdba]

mark,
thanks.
it worked perfectly. without opening I.E. i tested with something that was on first page and something that wasn't on first page. so, it WORKS.
thanks again. you deserve a STAR.
cheers.

 

[markdmac]

Happy to be of service.

I hope you find this post helpful.

Regards,

Mark

Check out my scripting solutions at

http://www.thespidersparlor.com/vbscript

Work SMARTER not HARDER. The Spider's Parlor's Admin Script Pack is a collection of Administrative scripts designed to make IT Administration easier! Save time, get more work done, get the Admin Script Pack.