You probably have already heard about proxies and some of their uses, and if you haven’t, check out this blog from Oxylabs, where they explain it very well. Nonetheless, one question must have arisen; how do you apply proxies in your niche? Furthermore, which proxy type is ideal for your business? There are different types of proxies available in the market today. Before we can dissect the different proxy types and their uses, we need to understand what proxies are.
So what are they?
Proxy Type: The Meaning of Proxies
A proxy server performances as an intermediary among the internet and your computer or device. Your computer has an IP address assigned to it. In the same way, every proxy server will have its unique IP address. When you browse the internet, the proxy server will receive your request and in turn, change your IP address before accessing the web on your behalf.
The response will also pass through the proxy server before being sent to your device or computer. A proxy server will access the internet on your behalf, and your original IP will not be exposed. This makes proxies ideal for IP masking, which in turn has a multitude of use cases.
Residential Proxies and Data Center Proxies
There are a lot of different proxy types, and the typology is rather complex. This article will discuss two main types of proxies; data center proxies and residential proxies.
Proxy Type: Data Center Proxies
Data center proxies are proxies that, unlike regular IP addresses, are not associated with an Internet Service Provider (ISP). These proxies originate from a secondary provider, and they provide anonymous browsing and private IP authentication.
Cloud service providers usually provide these proxies and they can be used by different users at the same time, although dedicated (private) proxies are also a common option. It is worth noting that cloud service providers are not the same as Internet Service Providers. This means that some target websites can automatically flag data center IP addresses and restrict access or take other measures.
Proxy Type: Residential Proxies
A domestic proxy is an IP address that has been provided by an Internet Service Provider to a given homeowner. The IP address is a real one, and it’s usually associated with a physical location and can allow you to realistically imitate organic users. High levels of anonymity can be achieved by hiding your original IP address behind this proxy type and it is much harder to detect for automated systems.
Having understood what proxies are and the different types of IP addresses, let’s now dive into the uses of these proxies in business.
Uses of Proxies in Business
1. Proxies for Market Research
You can’t ignore the importance of market research in business. The right research will help you outmaneuver your competition. Instead of using traditional research tactics, you can employ proxies to take your research craftsmanship to another level.
Many companies today strive to protect public data on their websites from other companies. This makes data collection for purposes of market research a tough challenge. Using proxies, especially residential, will ease the task by masking your IP address and allowing you to access data with no suspicions from the source.
2. Brand Protection Proxies
Building a successful brand takes a lot of time, money, and effort. However, it can only take a minute for something to damage your brand’s image. It is, therefore, your duty to safeguard/secure your brand as much as possible.
Proxies can help you in protecting your brand. For instance, copyright infringement and counterfeiting have been on the rise. To protect your company from such illegal behavior, you can use proxies to crawl relevant marketplaces/sites to detect and possibly prosecute any fraudsters illegally benefiting from imitating your company or products.
You can also bypass Geo-location restrictions to access different websites around the globe for purposes of retail monitoring. With the help of proxies, you will be able to identify unauthorized traders who might be possibly threatening the image of your company.
3. Ad Verification Proxies
Advertising is costly and ad fraud has become widespread these days. This means that your advertising money could just be going down the drain. Hence, for actual returns, there is an ever-growing need to safeguard your investment. Fraudulent websites are on the rise, and these sites simulate heavy traffic and end up attracting a lot of ads to their servers.
Ad verification can ensure that all your ads reach the actual targeted audience. In this case, proxies come in to improve performance, detect fraud, and anonymously check different advertisers’ sites & pages.
4. Pricing Intelligence Proxies
The e-commerce market is highly competitive, and you must strive to ensure that you get a slice of the pie. The markets out there are so much more price-sensitive and dynamic than before, and, therefore, you must ensure that you set your prices strategically to enjoy increased sales. Different e-commerce sites change their prices very often, and to stay competitive, you can use proxies to scrape this data and adjust your own prices accordingly.
What proxies can do is simply unmatched. With the ideal proxy type, you will be able to take your business a notch higher. What are you waiting for? Start using a proxy server today.
