Embodiments are directed to a system for gathering and processing web data. The system provides an expression-based social media monitoring (SMM) tool that pulls from a world wide web an initial data universe that includes web data relevant to a targeted index that has been identified by an entity as being of importance to said entity. An initial set of themes relevant to the targeted index is pulled from the initial data universe, and an expression-based, cognitive data analysis tool codes the initial data universe under the initial set of relevant themes to filter portions of the initial data universe that fall under the initial set of relevant themes and portions of the initial data universe that do not fall under the initial set of relevant themes.