diff --git a/salt/salt/consumers/init.sls b/salt/salt/consumers/init.sls
index a97a251..4e26637 100644
--- a/salt/salt/consumers/init.sls
+++ b/salt/salt/consumers/init.sls
@@ -21,3 +21,17 @@ consumer-topic_metadata_generator.service:
 consumer-comment_user_mentions_generator.service:
   service.running:
     - enable: True
+
+{% if grains['id'] == 'prod' %}
+/etc/systemd/system/consumer-topic_embedly_extractor.service:
+  file.managed:
+    - source: salt://consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.service.jinja2
+    - template: jinja
+    - user: root
+    - group: root
+    - mode: 644
+
+consumer-topic_embedly_extractor.service:
+  service.running:
+    - enable: True
+{% endif %}
diff --git a/salt/salt/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.service.jinja2 b/salt/salt/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.service.jinja2
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..47cb0e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/salt/salt/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.service.jinja2
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+{% from 'common.jinja2' import app_dir, bin_dir -%}
+[Unit]
+Description=Topic Embedly Extractor (Queue Consumer)
+Requires=rabbitmq-server.service
+After=rabbitmq-server.service
+PartOf=rabbitmq-server.service
+
+[Service]
+WorkingDirectory={{ app_dir }}/consumers
+Environment="INI_FILE={{ app_dir }}/{{ pillar['ini_file'] }}"
+ExecStart={{ bin_dir }}/python topic_embedly_extractor.py
+Restart=always
+RestartSec=5
+
+[Install]
+WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/tildes/alembic/env.py b/tildes/alembic/env.py
index 050df0c..7d56167 100644
--- a/tildes/alembic/env.py
+++ b/tildes/alembic/env.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from tildes.models.comment import Comment, CommentNotification, CommentTag, Comm
 from tildes.models.group import Group, GroupSubscription
 from tildes.models.log import Log
 from tildes.models.message import MessageConversation, MessageReply
+from tildes.models.scraper import ScraperResult
 from tildes.models.topic import Topic, TopicVisit, TopicVote
 from tildes.models.user import User, UserGroupSettings, UserInviteCode
 
diff --git a/tildes/alembic/versions/09cfb27cc90e_add_scraper_results_table.py b/tildes/alembic/versions/09cfb27cc90e_add_scraper_results_table.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f1ed77d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/alembic/versions/09cfb27cc90e_add_scraper_results_table.py
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+"""Add scraper_results table
+
+Revision ID: 09cfb27cc90e
+Revises: 04fd898de0db
+Create Date: 2018-09-09 21:22:32.769786
+
+"""
+from alembic import op
+import sqlalchemy as sa
+from sqlalchemy.dialects import postgresql
+
+# revision identifiers, used by Alembic.
+revision = "09cfb27cc90e"
+down_revision = "04fd898de0db"
+branch_labels = None
+depends_on = None
+
+
+def upgrade():
+    op.create_table(
+        "scraper_results",
+        sa.Column("result_id", sa.Integer(), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column("url", sa.Text(), nullable=False),
+        sa.Column(
+            "scraper_type",
+            postgresql.ENUM("EMBEDLY", name="scrapertype"),
+            nullable=False,
+        ),
+        sa.Column(
+            "scrape_time",
+            sa.TIMESTAMP(timezone=True),
+            server_default=sa.text("NOW()"),
+            nullable=False,
+        ),
+        sa.Column("data", postgresql.JSONB(astext_type=sa.Text()), nullable=True),
+        sa.PrimaryKeyConstraint("result_id", name=op.f("pk_scraper_results")),
+    )
+    op.create_index(
+        op.f("ix_scraper_results_scrape_time"),
+        "scraper_results",
+        ["scrape_time"],
+        unique=False,
+    )
+    op.create_index(
+        op.f("ix_scraper_results_url"), "scraper_results", ["url"], unique=False
+    )
+
+
+def downgrade():
+    op.drop_index(op.f("ix_scraper_results_url"), table_name="scraper_results")
+    op.drop_index(op.f("ix_scraper_results_scrape_time"), table_name="scraper_results")
+    op.drop_table("scraper_results")
diff --git a/tildes/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.py b/tildes/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..68ca723
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/consumers/topic_embedly_extractor.py
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Tildes contributors <code@tildes.net>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+"""Consumer that fetches data from Embedly's Extract API for link topics."""
+
+from datetime import timedelta
+import os
+from typing import Sequence
+
+from amqpy import Message
+from pyramid.paster import bootstrap
+from requests.exceptions import HTTPError
+from sqlalchemy import cast, desc, func
+from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import JSONB
+
+from tildes.enums import ScraperType
+from tildes.lib.amqp import PgsqlQueueConsumer
+from tildes.lib.datetime import utc_now
+from tildes.models.scraper import ScraperResult
+from tildes.models.topic import Topic
+from tildes.scrapers import EmbedlyScraper
+
+
+# don't rescrape the same url inside this time period
+RESCRAPE_DELAY = timedelta(hours=24)
+
+
+class TopicEmbedlyExtractor(PgsqlQueueConsumer):
+    """Consumer that fetches data from Embedly's Extract API for link topics."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self, api_key: str, queue_name: str, routing_keys: Sequence[str]
+    ) -> None:
+        """Initialize the consumer, including creating a scraper instance."""
+        super().__init__(queue_name, routing_keys)
+
+        self.scraper = EmbedlyScraper(api_key)
+
+    def run(self, msg: Message) -> None:
+        """Process a delivered message."""
+        topic = (
+            self.db_session.query(Topic).filter_by(topic_id=msg.body["topic_id"]).one()
+        )
+
+        if not topic.is_link_type:
+            return
+
+        # see if we already have a recent scrape result from the same url
+        result = (
+            self.db_session.query(ScraperResult)
+            .filter(
+                ScraperResult.url == topic.link,
+                ScraperResult.scraper_type == ScraperType.EMBEDLY,
+                ScraperResult.scrape_time > utc_now() - RESCRAPE_DELAY,
+            )
+            .order_by(desc(ScraperResult.scrape_time))
+            .first()
+        )
+
+        # if not, scrape the url and store the result
+        if not result:
+            try:
+                result = self.scraper.scrape_url(topic.link)
+            except HTTPError:
+                return
+
+            self.db_session.add(result)
+
+        new_metadata = EmbedlyScraper.get_metadata_from_result(result)
+
+        if new_metadata:
+            # update the topic's content_metadata in a way that won't wipe out any
+            # existing values, and can handle the column being null
+            (
+                self.db_session.query(Topic)
+                .filter(Topic.topic_id == topic.topic_id)
+                .update(
+                    {
+                        "content_metadata": func.coalesce(
+                            Topic.content_metadata, cast({}, JSONB)
+                        ).op("||")(new_metadata)
+                    },
+                    synchronize_session=False,
+                )
+            )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # pylint: disable=invalid-name
+    env = bootstrap(os.environ["INI_FILE"])
+    embedly_api_key = env["registry"].settings.get("api_keys.embedly")
+    if not embedly_api_key:
+        raise RuntimeError("No embedly API key available in INI file")
+
+    TopicEmbedlyExtractor(
+        embedly_api_key,
+        queue_name="topic_embedly_extractor.q",
+        routing_keys=["topic.created"],
+    ).consume_queue()
diff --git a/tildes/production.ini.example b/tildes/production.ini.example
index ab61f13..9212449 100644
--- a/tildes/production.ini.example
+++ b/tildes/production.ini.example
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ webassets.cache = false
 webassets.manifest = json
 
 # API keys for external APIs
+api_keys.embedly = embedlykeygoeshere
 api_keys.stripe = sk_live_ActualKeyShouldGoHere
 
 [server:main]
diff --git a/tildes/tildes/enums.py b/tildes/tildes/enums.py
index 66df640..bc294bb 100644
--- a/tildes/tildes/enums.py
+++ b/tildes/tildes/enums.py
@@ -65,6 +65,12 @@ class LogEventType(enum.Enum):
     TOPIC_UNREMOVE = enum.auto()
 
 
+class ScraperType(enum.Enum):
+    """Enum for the types of scrapers available."""
+
+    EMBEDLY = enum.auto()
+
+
 class TopicSortOption(enum.Enum):
     """Enum for the different methods topics can be sorted by."""
 
diff --git a/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/__init__.py b/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a62438c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Contains models related to scrapers."""
+
+from .scraper_result import ScraperResult
diff --git a/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/scraper_result.py b/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/scraper_result.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9d13ea2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/tildes/models/scraper/scraper_result.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Tildes contributors <code@tildes.net>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+"""Contains the ScraperResult class."""
+
+from datetime import datetime
+from typing import Any
+
+from sqlalchemy import Column, Integer, Text, TIMESTAMP
+from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import ENUM, JSONB
+from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import text
+
+from tildes.enums import ScraperType
+from tildes.models import DatabaseModel
+
+
+class ScraperResult(DatabaseModel):
+    """Model for the result from a scraper processing a url."""
+
+    __tablename__ = "scraper_results"
+
+    result_id: int = Column(Integer, primary_key=True)
+    url: str = Column(Text, nullable=False, index=True)
+    scraper_type: ScraperType = Column(ENUM(ScraperType), nullable=False)
+    scrape_time: datetime = Column(
+        TIMESTAMP(timezone=True),
+        nullable=False,
+        index=True,
+        server_default=text("NOW()"),
+    )
+    data: Any = Column(JSONB)
+
+    def __init__(self, url: str, scraper_type: ScraperType, data: Any) -> None:
+        """Create a new ScraperResult."""
+        self.url = url
+        self.scraper_type = scraper_type
+        self.data = data
diff --git a/tildes/tildes/scrapers/__init__.py b/tildes/tildes/scrapers/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..31ff25f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/tildes/scrapers/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""Contains scrapers."""
+
+from .embedly_scraper import EmbedlyScraper
diff --git a/tildes/tildes/scrapers/embedly_scraper.py b/tildes/tildes/scrapers/embedly_scraper.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c99985a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tildes/tildes/scrapers/embedly_scraper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Tildes contributors <code@tildes.net>
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later
+
+"""Contains the EmbedlyScraper class."""
+
+from typing import Any, Dict
+
+import requests
+
+from tildes.enums import ScraperType
+from tildes.lib.string import extract_text_from_html, word_count
+from tildes.models.scraper import ScraperResult
+
+
+class EmbedlyScraper:
+    """Scraper that uses Embedly's "Extract" API."""
+
+    def __init__(self, api_key: str) -> None:
+        """Create a new scraper using the specified Embedly API key."""
+        self.api_key = api_key
+
+    def scrape_url(self, url: str) -> ScraperResult:
+        """Scrape a url and return the result."""
+        params: Dict[str, Any] = {"key": self.api_key, "format": "json", "url": url}
+
+        response = requests.get("https://api.embedly.com/1/extract", params=params)
+        response.raise_for_status()
+
+        return ScraperResult(url, ScraperType.EMBEDLY, response.json())
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_metadata_from_result(result: ScraperResult) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        """Get the metadata that we're interested in out of a scrape result."""
+        # pylint: disable=too-many-branches
+        if result.scraper_type != ScraperType.EMBEDLY:
+            raise ValueError("Can't process a result from a different scraper.")
+
+        metadata = {}
+
+        if result.data.get("title"):
+            metadata["title"] = result.data["title"]
+
+        if result.data.get("description"):
+            metadata["description"] = result.data["description"]
+
+        content = result.data.get("content")
+        if content:
+            metadata["word_count"] = word_count(extract_text_from_html(content))
+
+        if result.data.get("published"):
+            # the field's value is in milliseconds, store it in seconds instead
+            metadata["published"] = result.data["published"] // 1000
+
+        authors = result.data.get("authors")
+        if authors:
+            try:
+                metadata["authors"] = [author["name"] for author in authors]
+            except KeyError:
+                pass
+
+        return metadata