The truth is, most websites have a limit to the number of requests sent from the same IP address within a given time frame. Exceeding the rate limit will get your address blocked, and the connection aborted. This can be an inconvenience, especially when gathering massive amounts of data.
This is the reason you need a rotating proxy for scraping. Rotating proxies allow you to scrape smoothly without worrying about being blocked for sending numerous browsing requests. Visit oxylabs for more information about this and other web scraping topics.
Before we look at rotating proxies in-depth, let us first understand what scraping is.
What is Scraping?
The internet is overwhelmed with data that could be useful in business. So how do you collect and filter this data into a more useful form? Web scraping. Web scraping can be defined as an automated process of collecting data from target websites using web scraping tools.
But web scraping is not as easy as it sounds, many websites are keen on who visits their websites and the frequency of their visit (requests). They do not hesitate to block any browsing behaviour that is not considered human-like, such as sending too many requests within a short interval. This is why scraping requires a proxy.
So, What is a Proxy?
A proxy is a gateway through which browsing requests first go through when retrieving information. They are an intermediary between you and other servers on the internet.
For example, when you send requests when scraping, the proxy receives your request and forwards it to the relevant server. The proxy then receives the feedback and forwards it to you. This means the target websites will not know you are scraping, because the proxy hides your real IP address.
There are many kinds of proxies designed to serve different purposes. In this article, we will explore rotating proxies for scraping.
What are Rotating Proxies?
It is a proxy server that assigns a new IP address for every connection from a proxy pool. It provides automatic IP address rotation, allowing you anonymity to focus on your work.
For example, when you send 100 requests to 100 different websites, a rotating proxy provides 100 different IP addresses.
Rotating proxies are useful and effective in data extraction, ad verification, managing accounts, and gathering price intelligence.
Why are Rotating Proxies Suitable for Scraping?
Proper gathering and utilization of data can reveal pain points and growth opportunities to a business. Companies are, therefore, taking web scraping very seriously. Rotating proxies are a suitable choice for scraping for the following reasons:
High-Level Anonymity
Cyber-crimes have not only become more popular, but they have also become more complex, presenting greater challenges for website owners. Websites are, therefore, continually enhancing their anti-scraping measures, to protect themselves against malicious activities.
It is not merely enough to hide your IP address when scraping, websites will eventually pick suspicious activities and block or flag your address. Rotating proxies provide a large number of IP addresses to use in your scraping project, giving you a higher level of anonymity.
Automatic Rotation
Unlike static proxies, rotating proxies rotate IP addresses automatically. You do not have to go through the trouble of alternative proxies manually.
This means the scraper can focus on the project and deliver efficiently.
Helps to Avoid Rate Limits
Most websites control incoming and outgoing traffic through rate limiting. Rate limit tells a website owner the number of requests sent to the site from which IP address within a given time. This can be a problem if you are scraping using the same IP address.
A rotating proxy helps you avoid rate limiting by scheduling IP rotation. It does so automatically within a set interval to avoid being detected as a scraper.
High Reliability
Non-functional proxies can be a headache in a scraping project. They make your data gathering very slow. When using a rotating proxy, requests are directed to active proxies because there is a pool of proxies to choose from.
When a switch is needed, you do not even notice it because it is done automatically. This makes your proxies reliable and your scraping smooth.
Security
Business competition gets tougher every day. Let’s say you are gathering data about your competitor: their prices, product availability, reviews, and so on. Would you like to leave a footprint of your activities? Perhaps not.
Rotating your proxies while scraping is a perfect way to ensure no information is traced back to you. This guarantees your online security and privacy.
Conclusion
Insights-driven businesses will keep a steady growth and have a competitive advantage above the rest. Most businesses are, therefore, investing in web scraping to gain insights that will drive business.
Rotating proxies are very efficient in web scraping. They help to avoid bans or blocks when sending many requests to a website. They help to mitigate anti-scraping mechanisms by rotating IP addresses.
As highlighted above, there are many rotating proxies to choose from. You need to buy them from a reputable provider. This will ensure you enjoy maximum benefits in your data-gathering projects.
