Nowadays, using a proxy server is suitable for online data scraping. All this happens because proxy servers can provide protection and anonymity that were never easy to obtain in previous years. However, it is a harsh reality that handling proxy servers can consume more time than web data scraping. Then why should you go for proxy for web scraping? The answers are here:

What is a proxy?

In simple words, a proxy is like a conveyer between the user and the website user visits. With the help of a proxy, the user will be able to enjoy a more secure and private web surfing experience. When a user lands on the website without any proxy, the first thing a website does is gather information about the user, like which IP address the user is using, the user’s location, and even in which device the user is interacting with the website. But when there is a proxy server while using the website, the server will hide the user’s identity from the site in regaining the website’s contents. Proxies have various types, such as residential proxy, datacenter and more. You can choose one of them as per your requirements. Now let’s move to the question, which is:

Why choose proxies for scraping?

Here are a couple of points that will validate the fact mentioned above:

Reliability: Most websites limit the amount of data that users can gather to prevent web scrapers from making too many requests. These requests can lead to the user’s IP address getting blocked or banned. On the other hand, if the user has a pool of rotating residential proxies, the user will be able to evade the limitation and send multiple requests from different IP addresses.

Access to geo-focused data: Like online retailers and real estate agents, most websites present a different type of content to the users as per their physical locations and devices. They do this because of their marketing or sales tactics. But when a user checks out the website with a rotating proxy server, the user can avoid these restraints by changing the location of the IP address.

With a proxy server, you can avoid these restraints and change the location of your IP. It’ll look like the user is making a request from a different area, allowing them to scrape public data anywhere.

Increased data volume: Even there is no possible way to find out whether the website is being scraped or not. Still, there are a couple of points when websites can detect suspicious scraper activity. To better understand, let’s take an example.

Suppose your web scraper is not browsing the website irrationally as a human would. Or your web scraper is accessing the website multiple days in a row simultaneously. In that case, it will be more accessible for the website to detect you and block you.

On the other hand, a proxy server permits you to create unlimited simultaneous sessions to one or multiple websites, reducing the ban or blocking risk.

Boosted security: As mentioned above, when a user interacts with a website, the website retrieves the user’s location, device, and IP address. That means the user will not have any control to sustain or hide the user’s location and IP address. But with a proxy server, the user will not have to worry about security issues. Because proxy servers provide an additional security and anonymity layer to users by hiding their device’s IP address.

Conclusion

Using Proxies, such as residential proxy networks, datacenter proxies, and more, is a boon for those who need to go through one website repeatedly. They can use a pool of proxy addresses to save themselves from getting banned or blocked from the websites where they want to scrap the data. By keeping this in mind, NetNut has presented a wide range of offers and packages of proxies. Feel free to contact us and choose a suitable package that will help you fulfill your requirements. Visit us at netnut.io, for detailed information.

Top 5 Use Cases of Proxies
Senior Growth Marketing Manager
As NetNut's Senior Growth Marketing Manager, Or Maman applies his marketing proficiency and analytical insights to propel growth, establishing himself as a force within the proxy industry.