Five reasons to use residential proxies for web scraping
Residential proxies are one of the most creative and efficient tools you can have for your company’s digital toolbox. People who require scraping the web for the business need residential proxies the most.
Every business owner who relies on scraping the web understands the importance of using proxy management. As data scraping has become so popular, almost all the websites have come up with anti-scraping tools. These tools can determine whether you are a genuine customer or a bot, or a scraper. They will block your residential IP address if they sense any malicious activity from your server.
To avoid such a scenario, you must use a residential proxy, which helps you bypass these anti-scraping protocols. A great option is using a web scraping API, like ZenRows. To understand how residential proxies work, let us first discuss web scraping.
What is web scraping?
Web scraping is a process of using scrapers or bots to collect data from several web pages and saving it on your computer. This software can scrape several pages in a matter of minutes and come up with all the information you require. Every business owner needs to use a scraper to come up with relevant data to create interactive campaigns. Some of the uses of web scraping are:
- To monitor your competitor’s price for your eCommerce business.
- To generate better leads driven through digital marketing campaigns.
- You can track Search Engine Result Pages to understand your website’s SEO optimization.
- To check the latest travel fares and news around the globe.
- To determine how your brand’s ads are performing in different markets.
These are some of the uses of a web scraper. Due to the growing usage of web scraping, websites have now come up with anti-scraping techniques to discourage such tools. The most common method they use is to track your IP address and block it from viewing the content. To avoid getting blocked, you have to use residential proxies.
What are residential proxies?
A proxy is an additional layer of security between your device and the internet. These third-party services can route your IP address from their server to make it appear as you are browsing from some other location.
Residential proxies are better than regular proxies as it provides real IP addresses of devices across the globe. Your routed IP address is of an actual home-based IP, making it harder for websites to ban you.
Residential proxies are the best way to cloak yourself while doing any online activities to avoid websites from tracking you. Some of the uses of using a residential proxy are:
Less likely to get blocked by websites
When you use a residential proxy, the server reroutes you through a proxy server. After rerouting, you are provided with a real-home-based server and IP address that exist someplace on the globe. This IP address acts as your IP address and has minimal chances of being blocked.
Because of this proxy, you can anonymously surf the internet without worrying about being traced back to your residential IP.
A Wider Range of locations
When you use a residential proxy, you can connect to a server-based anywhere around the world. This feature helps you to access geo-restricted websites by connecting to a server where that website is available. You can use this feature to access a website that you might not be able to access from your own country.
Connecting to a residential proxy gives you the freedom to connect anywhere worldwide.
The ability to choose an IP from almost every city in the world
Certain websites only provide geographic-specific information to the viewer. This limits the web scraper’s capability as it will only be able to scrape data that the website offers. By connecting to a residential proxy, you can connect anywhere worldwide and collect every data the website has to offer.
Easier to rotate between different IP blocks
The majority of the residential proxy providers offer you an option to rotate your proxies. This feature helps you get a new IP address depending on the request and device availability. You can even set the rotation parameters yourself to fit your needs. Using rotating IPs, you can eliminate the chances of being traced as you can get a new IP every few hours.
The IPs are from multiple Internet Service Providers (ISP)
These IPs provided by a residential proxy are usually from varying Internet Service Providers. Some ISPs can track your activities and store them in their database. Using a proxy will help you create a secure connection that any ISP cannot trace. You will get total anonymity while browsing the internet. Also, if you are using a rotating IP, you will get a new ISP with every new IP, making it almost impossible for websites to track you.
Conclusion
Web scraping is a useful tool at your disposal to collect data without any manual effort. This tool can help you create educated decision making to achieve your results. However, while scraping data, you must be careful and use residential proxies to avoid any undue risks.
