Top 5 Use Cases for Residential Proxies

If you want the kind of data supply to quicken your brand growth and expansion and maintain it for several years, then the internet is the best place to look.

Evidence has shown that companies that make their decisions based on accurate and relevant data collected in real-time often tend to make better progress than those that don’t.

But the internet is no longer as safe as it used to be. People want to monitor your activities, track and collect your sensitive data and target you with all kinds of online harassment and ads.

This is what has prompted the increasing application of proxies. Proxies help to keep you anonymous, your activities private, and your data more secure while evading IP bans.

They also help bypass geo-restrictions, which are placed on websites to disallow users from specific regions.

And while most proxies can effectively accomplish all of the above tasks, some do a better job than others. For instance, residential proxies handle geo-blocking better than datacenter proxies since they come with better internet protocol (IP) addresses and locations. Check out some of the popular residential proxies solutions.

What Are Proxies?

Proxies, also known popularly as proxy servers, are intermediary devices that help to convey communications between users and the internet.

They sit between the internet user and target websites or servers to take traffic back and forth. Connections enabled by proxies are often made using the IPs and locations the proxies provide.

That way, they can ensure the user is anonymous, safe, and carries out his activities with utmost privacy.

What Are The Applications Of Proxies?

There are multiple applications for proxies, with the following being the most common:

1. Boosting Internal Security

Amongst the many things that businesses must protect is their corporate data. This is because once this sensitive information falls into the hands of criminals or the competition, there is every chance that they would use it to launch an attack that could destroy the brand.

Companies, therefore, use proxies whenever they go on the internet to protect their data and keep themselves private.

2. For Faster Connections

Getting things done quickly is vital in today’s highly competitive market because when time is saved from one activity, it can be channeled into accomplishing another important activity.

Proxies are used because they guarantee a better speed of getting things done since they save bandwidth and use cache mechanisms.

3. Bypassing Geo-Restrictions

This is another important application of proxies because sometimes, some users and brands can find it impossible to reach the data they require because of where they stay.

This is known as geo-restriction, or the process of restricting users based on their geographical locations.

Proxies help users select from a vast list of IPs and locations hence providing an easy way to escape a problem tied to location.

The Main Proxy Types

There are two main types of proxies, namely datacenter and residential proxies.

Datacenter Proxies

Datacenter proxy servers are proxies with simulated IPs not tied to any physical location. The IPs are also not owned or allocated by internet service providers (ISP); instead, they are owned and managed by third-party corporations whose primary expertise is to provide this type of service.

The IPs are generated from anywhere in the world and used by clients based on where they wish to appear, making them very popular.

Aside from this, other reasons people use datacenter proxies include affordability, fast connections, availability, and an almost endless pool of IP addresses.

However, its greatest demerit lies in how the IPs are generated, and since they are not tied to any physical location, it doesn’t take long for websites and servers to see them as bots and move to block them,

Residential Proxies

Unlike datacenter, residential proxies are proxies with real IP addresses. The IP used often resembles those used by regular house owners since ISPs allocate them.

These proxies come with an abundance of IP and location, which they often rotate at specific intervals to help you bypass any challenges while browsing.

However, a type of residential proxy known as a static residential proxy maintains one IP until you decide to change it. This is especially useful for social media management and ad verification.

Use Cases for Residential Proxies

Residential proxies are specifically designed for a wide range of applications in the business, including the following:

1. Brand Monitoring and Protection

Monitoring a brand entails collecting data about the brand from every corner of the internet. This data includes comments, feedback, discussions, and even infringement attempts.

Residential proxies are used to collect this data so that brand managers can make early decisions to forestall damages.

2. Price Aggregation

Collecting the prices of products and services a brand offers is vital to help them set an appropriate price.

More often, price data can be obtained from significant eCommerce websites that do not naturally allow scraping.

However, residential proxies use IPs that resemble regular internet users, which allows them to scrape these data effortlessly without arousing suspicions from the eCommerce websites.

3. Ad Verification

Another major application of residential proxies is in confirming that ads are correctly displayed and are performing optimally.

Monitoring an ad with IPs that look like bots can prompt the platforms housing the ads to block you from viewing the ads.

But this is different when you use real-life IP addresses.

4. Social Media Monitoring

Brands need to be on multiple social media platforms because it helps with exposure and reaches a broader audience.

It may even be necessary to run multiple accounts from one social media platform.

Managing all of these from a single device can quickly become tricky. But with residential proxies providing you with multiple IPs and allowing you to switch whenever you want to fast, you can manage multiple platforms and accounts without problems.

5. Product and Search Engine Optimization

Optimizing your product involves making products that resonate and sit well with the market.

And optimizing for search engines usually involves creating content that people are looking for.

Both exercises entail collecting a large amount of data and doing this without getting blocked; you would need to use a more flexible proxy such as a residential proxy.

Conclusion

Datacenter and residential proxies are the two main types of proxies commonly used today. As residential proxies are often more flexible and tend to appear more legitimate while scraping, we see them popularly used in everything from brand monitoring and protection to social media management and even product optimization.