This paper shows how a general purpose data flow visual programming environment can be effectively used to find, collect and manipulate information available on the web. The discussion highlights the elementary functions that are needed to implement such applications, as well as the language control structures that can make program development easier. Starting from the analysis of a simple application, some advice is given about the potential of this approach. We also explain how we intend to make a suitable portion of the programming environment available through a common web browser.