Market research requires accurate data and access to a variety of information sources. However, many resources limit the number of requests or access from certain regions, which makes proxy servers an indispensable tool for successful analytics. Choosing the right proxy is crucial, especially if you work with social platforms such as TikTok or Instagram, where it is important to consider restrictions and security algorithms. Using Instagram or Tiktok proxy allows you to not only receive reliable data but also avoid blocking, which makes the analysis process as efficient as possible.
Using Proxy Servers in Marketing Research
If you just need to look at a competitor’s website or search for information online, you most likely won’t even think about proxying your requests. But as soon as the need for large-scale research arises, when you need to get a large amount of data from a specific site or from several at once, the process of collecting and analyzing data becomes more complicated and slows down significantly.
To avoid such problems, you need special automation tools: parsers, ready-made SEO software and software for marketers, specialized web services, etc. Almost all of them work through a proxy.
Proxies are intermediaries. These are nodes in the network that can redirect your requests on their behalf. But why is such behavior necessary for marketing research? It’s simple: large sites actively protect themselves from parasitic traffic, as it creates an unnecessary load on their hosting. And parsing is always unwanted traffic. Therefore, sites or web services try to isolate and block it.
Protection methods can be varied, but almost always it is necessary to analyze several requests from the same IP. For example, requests can come too often (a living person will not even have time to view the page at such a loading speed) or at the same intervals, the number of connections from one IP can be too large, etc.
Proxies allow you to bypass most protection mechanisms and protect the user by hiding his identity and replacing the IP.
Advantages of Using Proxies in Research
Proxies for market research solve the following problems:
- Bypassing anti-fraud systems due to frequent changes in IP addresses during parsing. Protection systems simply do not have time to accumulate statistics on a separate IP and, accordingly, do not have time to block such connections.
- Parallelization of data collection flows. Technically, each parsing process can be distributed to different proxy IP addresses, then each request on the target site will be processed individually: as if different users were connecting to the site and viewing different pages.
- Risk diversification. Even if a separate IP address is blocked, it is enough to change the output proxy to a new one. That’s it, you can continue working. The data collection process will be continuous.
- Ensuring confidentiality. No one will know the real data of the parser owner (unless they are intentionally entered on the target site, for example, when authorizing in your account).
- Each proxy for the protection system is a unique user. At any time, the researcher can change the IP and log in to a new account.
- Bypassing geographic restrictions. Requests can be blocked at different levels, for example, at the country level or at the site level. Proxies allow you to bypass any of these blocking schemes. The researcher only needs to select output IP addresses in locations that will correspond to regions without blocking.
It is worth remembering that the proxies themselves are only responsible for changing the location (for forwarding requests on their behalf). To eliminate other risks, it is important to approach the issue comprehensively.
How to Choose a Proxy Server Type?
The level of trust from the target site/service security systems will depend on the quality and type of proxy.
The fact is that different types of IP addresses are perceived differently by such systems:
- Server proxies are the minimum level of trust and the fastest blocking. Even if the address is not completely blocked, for example, if it is already blacklisted or in spam databases, it will be shown captcha more often. On the one hand, server proxies are the cheapest and most stable, but on the other hand, they are easy to identify and eliminate from general traffic. Server IPs belong to companies providing hosting services. Therefore, blocking such addresses will not affect ordinary users in any way, because no one will use a site or service from a data center – most likely it will be a parser.
- Resident proxies are proxies based on devices owned by private users, or more precisely, users of local Internet providers (owners of wired and wireless networks). There is no point in the target site or service blocking its main audience, so bans if issued, are short-lived. In any case, IPs are dynamically distributed between the provider’s users, and they are valid for no more than a day or two.
- Mobile proxies are proxies that operate based on the IP addresses of mobile operators. Since there are few IPv4 addresses left, and mobile operators have many users, a large number of real clients can work behind one IP at once. Plus, the IP can change dynamically if the client moves from one base station to another. In this regard, anti-fraud systems block mobile IPs extremely carefully, and the blocking does not last long. The degree of trust here is maximum.
For large-scale market research (including monitoring search engine rankings, tracking prices, parsing websites, etc.), paid rotating mobile or residential proxies are best suited. In rare cases, when target websites have weak security systems, rotating server proxies may be suitable.
Conclusion
Choosing the right proxy for market research is an investment in the accuracy and reliability of your data. If your tasks are related to social networks such as TikTok or Instagram, then mobile proxies will be the optimal solution due to their stability and ability to emulate the behavior of real users. Using mobile proxies for TikTok or Instagram allows you to bypass platform restrictions and avoid the risk of blocking while providing access to the data you need. If you are looking for a reliable proxy provider for social networks, then you should definitely pay attention to iProxy.