>The issue with web scraping is that it relies on the scraper to keep up with changes made to the site.

The OP addresses that point. His contention is, there's a lot more pressure on the typical enterprise to keep their public-facing website in tip-top shape than there is to make sure whatever API they've defined is continuing to deliver results properly.

Of course, part of the art of (and fun of) scraping is to see if you can make your scraper robust against mere cosmetic changes to the site.