If we take a closer look at the internet in 2023, it becomes clear that digital data has become our most valuable resource. Modern companies and business-minded freelancers are always on the lookout to discover the most valuable sources of public information, as it can help get a competitive advantage in many different niches.
However, despite constant additions of information to the digital world, finding data that gets you valuable insights is not always easy. The web is also full of useless clutter, duplicates, and other waste that tries to captivate our attention. What’s more, the most relevant sources of data are often protected with rate limiters and other protection tools against data collection bots.
This is a big problem for data harvesters and other information collection tools that are often aimed at the best sources of public knowledge. Bot restrictions, geo-blocking, and other privacy settings stop data collectors from accessing these sites. Thankfully, there is a solution that will unlock access to blocked pages while keeping your connection anonymous – proxy servers.
In this beginner’s guide, we will discuss the functionality of proxy servers, particularly dedicated proxies, and their role in the realm of market intelligence and data harvesting. Here you will learn the core strategies used by data scientists and market researchers, which use dedicated proxies to optimize web scraping processes and target the most relevant market data. Keep reading to learn the basics of dedicated proxy server use and their immense contribution to data collection efforts.
How does a proxy server work?
Proxy servers take the regular route of your web traffic and include an extra station that changes the identity of your connection. While the initial steps of internet access are the same, the intermediary server adopts the incoming traffic as its connection; hence the recipient will think that it is the original sender of your traffic.
The sensitive private information: your IP address, user-agent, and other details are attached to your connection request. Exposing it, even to trustworthy websites, is not always a good idea, especially if you are using a company IP address and trying to connect to a competitor’s website.
Proxy servers provide the necessary pivot point to not only mask your network identity but also see the internet from another location. For example, if you are located in the United States, but your proxy server is in France, your next connection to Google will show you the localized French version of the site. Also, depending on the deal offered by your proxy provider, you can choose any location to unblock desired websites for research while maintaining your anonymity.
Regular vs Dedicated proxies
Now that we know the basic functionality of a proxy server let’s compare the average proxy service deal with dedicated proxies. The regular proxy service usually opens access to a fleet of proxy addresses which can be used by other clients at the same time. This is usually not a big deal because proxy server use is mostly oriented toward browsing sessions, but you can also enjoy different streaming libraries from remote locations if the internet speed loss is not too big.
Dedicated proxies are more expensive because they provide a collection of servers that are reserved for your use. If you want reliable connections, dedicated proxies are the way to go, especially when gathering information for market intelligence. They are perfect for data-sensitive tasks, such as automated data collection, where a stable connection is needed for continuous extraction. Regular proxies can be more advantageous in situations where several unique IP addresses are more important than high-speed connections, as you will get more random identities instead of cycling through the same dedicated IPs. Another drawback of regular proxies is the unpredictable nature of a received address. There is a chance that someone already used the received proxy IP on your targeted site and got banned. Dedicated proxies make sure that only you can use the provided addresses, which guarantees faster, more private connections.
How to set up a proxy server?
This section covers the basic proxy server setup. If you want to connect to a proxy via your Windows PC, follow these steps:
- Go to Windows Settings and locate “Network & Internet”
- Locate the sidebar on the left and select “Proxy”
- Scroll down to the Manual Proxy Settings and toggle on the setting “Use a proxy server”.
- Enter your address and port, or enter multiple dedicated addresses in the provided text window. Separate the IP address from a port with a semicolon (;)
- Enter the credentials of your client account to authorize your connection.
If you want to use a proxy server on MAC, follow these steps:
- Go to your Apple menu and click “System Preferences”
- Select the “Network tab” and choose your connection
- Go to “Advanced” and locate your “Proxies” tab.
- Enter your server address and port and put in your credentials when prompted.
Why do Businesses use Dedicated proxies?
Modern businesses use dedicated proxies for many market research tasks. Below are the most influential benefits of their use, on which companies depend almost every day.
Anonymous web access
Even if your company is not using automated data collection tools, anonymous web access is important for all employees. It ensures that none of the connections can be traced back to your main address, which is essential for constant interactions with competitor sites and other sources of information. Anonymous web access also creates a safety net for untrained employees, where mistakes or bad actions on the internet will not be traced back to the company’s public IP address.
Unblock Restricted Websites
IP blacklisting and geo-blocking restrict our access to the site that may have valuable information and insights into local market intelligence. With dedicated proxies, you can pick the best remote locations to access the site and collect information without ever raising suspicion.
Web Scraping and Competitor Research
Data harvesting is the key to researching competitors. With automated web extraction tools, users can extract the most valuable information and sort it into a readable format, making it ready for analysis.
Web scraping procedures focus on collecting information about products and services, their prices, popularity, and reviews from customers. With dedicated proxies, you can pick the servers in the best location relative to you and your target and set up routine extraction tasks to keep an eye on their activities.
Conclusion
Proxy servers are a perfect complementary tool for market research and efficient use of data harvesting software. With dedicated proxies, you can strike a perfect balance between speed and anonymity, which will keep you two steps ahead of your competitors.
