Web Scraping22 min read
Rate Limiting and Delays
Learn why sending requests too fast is dangerous and how to use delays to scrape responsibly.
David Miller
December 2, 2025
2.3k83
Sending many requests fast looks suspicious.
It can:
- overload servers
- get you blocked
- break your scraper
Always add delays
import time
for url in urls:
requests.get(url)
time.sleep(2) # wait 2 seconds
Why delay matters
Humans click slowly.
Bots don't.
Delay flow
flowchart LR
A[Request] --> B[Wait]
B --> C[Next Request]
Remember
- Respect server load
- Slow scrapers survive longer
#Python#Intermediate#Performance