Proxy

A proxy is an intermediary server that routes requests between a client and the destination server. When you route requests through a proxy, the destination sees the proxy's IP address instead of yours, masking your origin identity.

In data collection, proxies are used to distribute requests across multiple IP addresses, avoiding rate limits and IP blocks triggered by high request volume from a single address. Proxies are categorized by type: datacenter proxies (fast and cheap but easily detected), residential proxies (real consumer IPs, harder to detect, more expensive), and mobile proxies (highest authenticity, highest cost).

While proxies are a standard scraping tool, they add operational complexity and cost. For developers who need large-scale, reliable data access, subscribing to a data API is more practical than building and maintaining a proxy infrastructure.