Why Residential Proxy Pools Are Essential for Accurate Web Data

Residential proxies are the best tools to target the location down to the city level. This capability results from proxy providers’ large residential proxy pools. As a result, these proxies are particularly useful during web scraping; they enable you to access geo-restricted websites and sources that contain the data you need. In other words, residential proxies help you collect accurate web data. 

What are Residential Proxies?

Residential proxies route internet traffic through the physical devices of real users. Proxy providers create residential proxies by liaising with internet service providers (ISPs) or users who agree to install applications on their infrastructure or personal computers, effectively turning their devices into intermediaries. All traffic is, therefore, always associated with real users. For this reason, residential IPs are less likely to get blacklisted.

Benefits of Residential Proxies for Businesses

1. Anonymity: Residential proxies are essentially real, physical devices connected to the internet via a legitimate ISP’s infrastructure. This means they are associated with real users and are, therefore, not easily flagged or blocked. This is the source of the high-level legitimacy they provide.
2. Wide geographical coverage: Leading providers offer coverage across many countries worldwide. If you buy residential proxies from top providers, such as Oxylabs, for example, you will access the whole infrastructure in 195 countries. 
3. Localized and precise targeting: The providers also go an extra mile to ensure city-level targeting. You can also filter the location by ZIP code or coordinates. This filter option lets you focus your web scraping on a more precise geographic location. 
4. Wide IP pool: Residential proxies make up the largest number of IP addresses in a provider’s total IP network. The residential proxy pools usually count in millions of IP addresses. This large pool is beneficial in many ways. First, it enables IP rotation, reducing the chances to face CAPTCHAs or risks of IP bans. Secondly, it allows the provider to allocate multiple IPs to each user, ensuring that each IP is used sparingly and minimizing chances of IP blacklisting. 
5. High-quality IP addresses: Residential proxies assign IP addresses that are associated with real users. They are rarely banned, save for extreme cases of IP abuse.
6. 24/7 customer support: If you buy residential proxies from a reputable provider, you get to enjoy round-the-clock assistance should you need it.
7. High-speed connection: If you buy residential proxies from reputable service providers, you will likely enjoy high-speed connections. This is because the providers vet their proxies and only provide high-quality proxies that support fast and large bandwidths.

Role of Residential Proxies in Web Scraping

As stated above, the wide residential proxy pools comprise high-quality IP addresses sourced from various countries worldwide. This extensive network allows you to filter by city, ZIP code, coordinates, state, country, or continent. It is this ability to filter and target specific locations that makes residential proxies ideal for collecting accurate web data. 

You can use these tools to collect city-specific data even if you are located in a far-flung area. In this regard, residential proxies are ideal for businesses looking to research a particular market, see how their ads are displayed in specific cities, or uncover customer sentiment about some of their physical locations or region-specific products. 

Best Practices for Using Residential Proxies

Residential proxies offer anonymity. They are reliable and less likely to be banned than datacenter proxies. But they can still stop working once you reach the allocated bandwidth limit. They are also not immune to bans, especially when abused or overused. Here are some of the best practices that prevent blacklisting and ensure smooth operation:

1. Rotate IP addresses: You can buy rotating residential proxies, which automatically assign your outgoing requests a new IP address at scheduled intervals. You can also set the proxies to assign a new IP address to every new request. 
2. Use proxy management tools: It is always a good idea to automate the setup, configuration, maintenance, and deployment of multiple proxies. When you buy residential proxies, you can add them to a proxy management tool. In fact, you can add proxies from different providers and manage all of them within the same interface.
3. Monitor traffic usage: While residential proxies do not have performance restrictions, providers cap the traffic that can be routed through them. This means that if you unknowingly reach the limit, you will no longer be able to use the proxies unless you buy a new bundle. For this reason, monitor your traffic usage so you don’t run out of traffic in a critical moment.
4. Regularly refresh the residential proxy pool: You can minimize the risk of your IP addresses being banned by limiting how often you use the addresses assigned to you. You can achieve this by retiring used IP addresses and replacing them with new ones.

Conclusion

Reputable residential proxy providers offer a vast collection of high-quality IP addresses sourced from around the world. These pools make residential proxies the perfect tool for scraping accurate web data. They enable you to access geo-restricted content by filtering based on narrowed metrics, such as the town.