If you are into data-driven business, you must have heard about web scraping. It is one of the most prominent data extraction methods that promises quality data in the shortest possible time. The accuracy with which a web scraping tool can deliver the data is what makes web scraping popular compared to other data mining methods.
With the growing popularity, the technology used for web scraping is evolving and it is capable of scraping complex websites. Proxies are one of the major landmarks in the field of web scraping. Businesses across the world utilize proxies to scrape data from their targeted websites with ease.
What is a proxy?
Proxies are the magic key that lets you scrape data without getting blocked or banned. A proxy is a server application that acts as an intermediary between you and the website. Instead of connecting you to the internet directly, a proxy server establishes the connection with the internet on your behalf. A proxy server approaches the website using its own IP address instead of your real IP address. This enables users to gather data without disclosing the real IP address of the user. Using a proxy is a more secure approach because when you use a proxy, the website you’re visiting sees the proxy’s IP address rather than your own.
Depending on their architecture and functionality, proxy servers can be used for a variety of purposes. Secure web scraping, safe browsing, and easy access to any website are some of the most common functionalities of a proxy server. To effortlessly explore the web, a proxy server provides you a proxy from a network of proxies. Your internet activity is managed by a proxy server on your behalf.
Types of proxies
Datacenter proxies
As the name indicates, datacenter proxies are proxies that are delivered by a datacenter server. They have IP addresses that are produced by a computer and aren’t associated with any genuine devices. Web scraping proxies provided by a data center provider are a good choice solution for people who want to gather data at an affordable price. Even though it is an appealing choice for people, a datacenter proxies does not give complete security to its users. In some cases, the anonymity gets disclosed and gets blocked or banned by websites. Datacenter proxies are usually used by multiple people at a time and the possibility to get blocked is high.
Residential proxies
A Residential Proxy Network is a proxy network that uses genuine IP addresses issued by Internet Service Provider (ISP). Residential web scraping proxies are popular because of their validity and genuineness, which allows a user to get public data such as government regulations, tax regimes, and healthcare reports quickly and easily. Residential proxies allow you to browse the web as a genuine user in a chosen location (country, city, or cell carrier). Residential proxies are mainly used for web scraping, ad verification, and web marketing.
Rotating proxies
Rotating proxy service is the process of allocating fresh IP addresses to a user, every time they visit a website. This solution is perfect for people who want to visit and scrape data from the same website frequently because every time they visit the page they will be allocated with a new IP address. Rotating proxies are useful for web scraping and crawling in which a user wants to scrape data multiple times at large scale.
Benefits of proxies
Safe browsing
With numerous ads and marketing campaigns getting targeted to your IP address, browsing can be a challenging task. For a safe browsing experience, a proxy will give you the anonymity you need while visiting a website. It allows the user to use the internet without getting targeted by ads. Cookie-based tracking can be mitigated by using anonymous browsing. Because cookies aren’t saved after your anonymous browsing session, you’re less likely to receive online ads and promotions.
Region centric data
A proxy server will enable the user to access from multiple geographical locations without getting blocked. Some websites block based on geography, so a proxy is a viable option for people who want to access data from multiple locations. Using a web scraping proxy server, a user can use the IP address of that particular region,visit the website and gather data seamlessly.
Prevent IP bans
Today websites are more dynamic and complex making data scraping and crawling a challenging process. A proxy will help the user to access complex websites with different IP addresses for anonymous visits. A proxy will mostly eliminate the block or ban initiated by a website administrator. An advanced web scraping proxy server can fetch data from complex and dynamic websites without much complications.
Block malicious sites
A proxy server can detect any offensive or inappropriate sites and restrict the user from visiting those sites. It filters out irrelevant sites which saves the time and effort of the user to a great extent. Since it eliminates irrelevant or malicious websites, a user can gather precise and relevant datasets using a focused proxy. A proxy enhances the quality of data output since it evaluates the website before initiating the scraping process.
Proxies can be the best add-on feature for every web scraping tool as it provides privacy and security to its users. Proxies are one of the user-friendly approaches that is utilized by users across the world. Having different proxies for different situations makes the web scraping process more easy and convenient.
At Scrapeworks, you can gather all your data without disclosing your identity, because your privacy matters to us. Our legally compliant web scraping solutions will help you collect the data you need without the fear of getting blocked.
