Top 7 Proxy Solutions for Web Scraping

Without web scraping proxies, data extraction would hardly be possible. Either your IP address would get blocked by the targeted website, or the process would take way too long to be worthwhile.To get more news about unlimited residential proxies, you can visit pyproxy.com official website.

Bot detection tools have come a long way and more power to them! Captchas and IP blacklisting functionalities stop malicious bots and make the Internet safer. Sadly, these tools also hinder harmless web scrapers. If you want to know how to avoid anti-bot protection while scraping, as well as the pros and cons of different types of proxies and proxy providers, you’ve come to the right place! Proxies: definition and primary uses We’ve established that proxies are an integral part of a data extraction system, but what are they, really?

In as few words as possible, proxy servers are intermediaries that act as a gateway between you and the websites you visit.

Accessing a website isn’t a one-way interaction. As you’re browsing its content, it also collects information from you. The site can see things like your IP address, location, and device details. Additionally, it will store a cookie so that when you revisit the site, it will already know your preferences, passwords, and so on.

That is considered a normal user-website interaction. By adding a proxy, you’d make a request to a middle-man server, and it would make the same request to the website you want to access. Instead of getting your info, the site gathers data about the proxy server, which has its own IP, location, and so on. So, proxies offer you more privacy from the websites you browse. They’re also an extra layer of protection: if the website’s information gets hacked, the hacker doesn’t get your real data from it, just the proxy.

Depending on the location of the proxy, you might also get access to more content than you would without it. That has to do with region restrictions on the website. Probably the most classic example is using a proxy to get full access to streaming sites, which have region-locked shows. I’m looking at you, Netflix.

The middle-man server can also cache websites for you. This way, when you come back to the website you don’t actually have to wait for the website to load normally. The proxy sends you the archived version it already has unless changes have been made to the site since your last visit.

Another benefit you can get from proxies is control over the requests sent through it. For example, a company can use a proxy to route all requests from its employees and certain websites, like social media platforms. The different types of proxies It’s important to know what you want to gain by using a proxy before using one, especially if it involves a fee. There are many types of servers, each with its own uses, advantages, and disadvantages. Transparent proxies: Unlike all others, transparent proxies don’t mask your information or change the response from the website. Its purpose is just to act as a buffer between you and the site. As such, it can log your activity as well as block requests to certain websites. These proxies are primarily used in companies or schools to better monitor and control what users do on the Internet. Anonymous proxies: These are as standard as it gets. The proxy doesn’t send your IP to the site but identifies itself as a proxy. So, you have a degree of anonymity while the website knows that they’re not getting your information. Since the site knows it’s being accessed via a proxy, it might block your request. High anonymity proxies: These servers are also known as elite proxies. They completely conceal your data and fool websites into thinking that the request is coming from a normal user, with the proxy’s IP. Since the site doesn’t detect the proxy, it’s the most anonymous and low-risk option. Public proxies: If you want to try out a mix of transparent, anonymous, and elite proxies for free, you can. Just search for public proxies. These are offered freely on the Internet and can be a huge help if you know where to look. A word of warning, though — some of these proxies might be made available by hackers. Some have done so to get personal data from the people using their proxies. Make sure you only use public proxies from trustworthy providers.