If you are failing to scrape location-specific content, you must use a proxy server to access the content. But not all proxy providers on the market will give you the right type of proxy you need for web scraping. What do you do in that case?
Well, thanks to Proxyway for its Proxy Market Research 2022, which will give you a complete idea of which proxy service provider to choose. Check the latest version of the Proxy Market Research report to get detailed information on proxy service providers.
What Is Web Scraping?
Web scraping or alternatively known as web data extraction is the process of collecting numerous data from websites using certain tools. In general, you can only view website content through a web browser. But if you want to download data from a website, you need to collect the data manually. This process is very slow and tedious.
Instead of doing this, you can use web scraping tools that will run certain scripts to automatically fetch necessary data from the website and store this data in your preferred format. Collecting and organizing data becomes very easy when you use web scraping tools.
Use Cases of Web Scraping
Web scraping is currently used for various purposes. Here will be a quick overview of the popular use cases of web scraping. Please take a look.
Lead Generation
This is one of the most common use cases where you can collect valuable leads to improve your marketing game. For example, you can collect the contact information of various companies using web scraping. This data can later be used for SMS or email marketing.
Checking Out Competitors
If you have an e-commerce website, you might need to keep an eye on your competitors to be ahead of the competition. Web scraping helps you collect necessary data to have the edge over your competitors.
Data Analysis
The first thing you need to do during data analysis is collect all the data and organize them in the same format. This can be very difficult and time-consuming if you do it manually. But if you use web scraping, you can collect numerous data and organize them in a matter of minutes.
AI and ML
A lot of data is required to create or test artificial intelligence technologies or machine learning models. You can use web scraping in this case to save time and effort.
Why Is Proxy Crucial for Web Scraping?
Though web scraping is the easiest way to collect data from various websites, your IP address can be blocked by some websites to prevent you from collecting data. Or, some data can be meant for certain locations. So, how do you access that data?
This is where the proxy server comes in handy. It is an intermediary server between your device and the target server. When you make a connection request, it will go through the proxy server. And the response from the target server will also come to your device through that proxy server.
In the meantime, the proxy server will assign a different proxy each time from its proxy pool so that you can remain anonymous or no one understands you are making numerous requests.
Here is why proxy is important for web scraping –
- If a website has location-specific content, you might not be able to access that data unless you are in that region. A proxy server will let you browse that content by assigning you an IP address located in that region. As a result, you can easily scrape that data without physically traveling to that region.
- Also, some websites tend to block IP addresses if multiple requests are made from the same address within a short period of time. Some websites even have captcha verification to identify whether a human or software makes the requests. If you use proxy servers, your IP address will dynamically change, preventing the target website from blocking your IP address.
How to Find the Best Proxy Server?
Well, finding the best proxy server isn’t easy. You need to consider a lot of factors to choose the right server. From connection speed to network stability, every small detail should be checked to get a good proxy service provider.
Proxyway tests renowned proxy providers and publishes its Proxy Market Research report every year. You can check the latest report to find the best proxy service provider out there. As these service providers are evaluated based on different aspects, you can expect effective proxies for your needs.
Conclusion
Now that you know the importance of using a proxy server for web scraping and how to find the best proxy server, we hope you will take the time to check out the Proxy Market Research 2022 and find the best proxy provider for your needs.