Common Crawl: Free & Open Web Data for Everyone
Common Crawl: Powering Open Access to the Web's Vastness
In an age where data is the new oil, access to large, diverse datasets is paramount for innovation, research, and development. Common Crawl stands as a beacon in this landscape, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2007 with a clear mission: to make wholesale extraction, transformation, and analysis of open web data accessible to everyone. This commitment has made Common Crawl an indispensable resource for researchers, developers, and organizations worldwide.
A Decade and a Half of Data Archiving
Common Crawl's impact is staggering. Since its inception, the project has amassed an colossal repository of over 250 billion web pages, a figure that continues to grow by 3 to 5 billion new pages each month. This vast, free, and open corpus, maintained for over 18 years, provides an unparalleled snapshot of the internet's evolution. Its significance is underscored by its citation in over 10,000 research papers, contributing to breakthroughs across various fields, from computational linguistics and AI to internet security and social science.
What Can You Do with Common Crawl Data?
The versatility of Common Crawl's dataset is a major draw. Researchers leverage it to analyze trends in online expression, study censorship patterns, or understand the dynamics of the web through sophisticated web graphs. For instance, recent featured papers highlight its use in analyzing web graphs for domain-level insights, detecting hyperlink hijacking, and even pushing the limits of mathematical reasoning in open language models like DeepSeekMath. The data is instrumental in building large language models, developing sophisticated web analysis tools, and enhancing internet security measures.
Beyond the Data: A Thriving Ecosystem
Common Crawl is more than just a data repository; it's a cornerstone of the open-source community. They regularly release updated web graphs, such as the recently announced Host- and Domain-Level Web Graphs for March, April, and May 2025, providing granular insights into web connectivity. Their commitment to accessibility is further demonstrated through comprehensive resources like 'Get Started' guides, an AI Agent for quick inquiries, a vibrant blog with the latest updates, and strong community engagement via Mailing Lists, Hugging Face, and Discord.
Led by experts like Principal Technologist Thom Vaughan, Common Crawl continuously strives to enhance the utility and accessibility of its data. Whether you're a seasoned AI researcher, a web developer, or simply curious about the internet's vastness, Common Crawl offers a powerful, open-source foundation to explore, innovate, and understand the digital world.
Dive into the billions of pages, explore the intricate web graphs, and become part of a community that's shaping the future of open web data.