Everybody thinks that private proxies are used for masking a user’s IP for privacy and security. But that’s the role of a VPN. A private proxy, either premium or cheap proxy can be used in other ways as well. Cheap proxies, usually HTTP proxies, that allow their users to hide an IP can be used in projects where multiple queries to a certain domain are needed for the project’s success. Thus, to avoid any IP bans and make the project useless, developers need to implement private proxies, either premium or cheap ones, into their projects.
If developers need their project to connect to several websites and do not need to log in an account, they can use cheap proxies to cut costs. In this article, we are going to show five unknown ways in which private proxies, HTTP/HTTPS type are used by developers in their web projects.
1 CHEAP PROXIES USED IN WEB SCRAPING
Some users might argue that a project needs premium proxies, with virgin IPs, for web scraping. However, not every web scraping tool needs virgin proxies to function.
If the project, the tool developed, is used to scrape from several websites at once and there are no login requirements, then developers should use cheap proxies over premium ones.
Premium ones, fully anonymous should be used only if the developed project require accounts login and will scrape domains after login. In such circumstances, clean IPs and the proxies’ clean history is more important than costs.
2 USE PROXIES FOR RESEARCH
Beside web scraping, proxies can be used for research purposes. Their use for research is similar to web scraping. They are used to hide the IP from where the research tool or researchers are performing queries to a certain domain.
However, there are two major differences between using proxies for web scraping and research. First, for research, data can be gathered manually. Actions are performed manually and the proxies are used in browsers and their sole purpose is to mask a computer’s IP. Second, research is conducted to crunch data, therefore once data is gathered, the proxy use can be stopped, or researchers can use them less frequently. This is different than web scraping, where proxies are used to perform queries for a set period of time.
3 PROXIES USED FOR LEARNING
Very few people will consider proxies as a tool for learning. But they can be used this way as well.
For example, junior developers can use cheap proxies to cut costs and learn by developing and running tools over the Internet. Thus, maintaining their IP protected while learning.
The proxies developers can use to learn can be either the HTTP/HTTPS or Socks ones. And learning can take several forms. From building primitive web scrapers to automation tools, developers need proxies as a protection for their IP while learning to build tools.
4 RANKING WITH PROXIES
Another way of using cheap proxies is to rank a website. Basically, webmasters need HTTP proxies with SSL connection, the HTTPS proxies to connect to certain domains where they can post backlinks towards their properties. Thus, improving their SEO profile.
Proxies for SEO ranking can be either used manually or implemented in an SEO tool, such as Scrapebox, which will help the webmaster in its ranking.
5 USE PROXIES FOR TESTING
Similar to learning, some developers must hide their IP to develop tools and protect their servers.
Developing an online tool from the ground up takes a lot of time and iterations. Moreover, the first version of a tool will always have bugs and suspicious behavior.
Thus, developers must use proxies to shield their IPs in case there are bugs that can make the tool behave in unexpected ways and risking a possible ban over a developer’s servers.
In addition, proxies are used for testing tools that require specific geo locations, such as testing a search engine scraper or social media for geo-specific content. And other times, proxies are used to protect a developer’s server when accounts are needed to log in on major websites, where the number of connections per IP is limited to a single-digit number.
TO WRAP UP
Private proxies, either premium, virgin ones or cheap proxies can be used to mask a server IP for various reasons. Most people will think that IPs need to be hidden for security reasons. But some users need to hide their IP for safety reasons, to avoid an unnecessary ban for testing tools or performing market research.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.