While using a proxy is a great way for you to stay anonymous and perform all kinds of tasks, it also means you are susceptible to an IP ban. Sometimes, companies will see the use of proxy as suspicious behavior and they will ban you. But there are ways to circumvent that. Here’s what you need to know.
Why do websites block or ban IPs?
There are a few reasons why that happens. For example, there were too many requests in a short time, making things feel unnatural. The same thing is valid when it comes to repeated actions, such as scraping, login attempts or anything of that nature. Suspicious patterns like bots and automation can also lead to an IP ban. And of course the same thing is valid for shared or blacklisted proxy IPs.
Rotate your proxies
If you use the same IP repeatedly, that will be a red flag. So the best approach is to just try and rotate your proxies, because it’s better. Change your IP every couple of sessions or requests. The chances of getting an IP ban are much lower this way, when you are using such a method.
Slow down your requests
Of course, a great approach and idea is to try and slow things down. Speed will always bring some type of suspicion, and that’s something to keep in mind. Avoid sending hundreds of requests every second. Instead, what you want to do is to add delays between requests. You can also try to randomize timing, as it will mimic humans, which is extremely important to take into consideration.
Try to mimic user behavior
Websites ban IPs because they see something unnatural when it comes to how they are using certain features. What you want to do is to act like a human. If your behavior patterns are not bot-like and very repetitive, then that will be something which will be fine and not overly problematic. So, try to scroll pages, click on links naturally and stay away from any repetitive actions. Then, you will be fine.
Use a high quality proxy
Clearly, it helps if you are using the best proxy, because it limits the IP ban issue. A low-quality proxy will always get flagged. So, you should go for the residential or mobile proxies. These are known to offer a much better value, and as we said, stay away from free or public proxy sites. Sure, they might be fine for a few tasks, but if you’re serious about using a proxy, a lot of the time these will have IP bans and other issues of that nature.
Rotate the user agents
Did you know that the browser fingerprint matters? Yes, it does, and that’s why you want to change the browser type, device type and operating system. Why would you do that? It allows you to appear as a different user every time. And when you do so, the chances of dealing with an IP ban are a lot smaller. It always helps if you are rotating the user agents in a way that feels natural and human. Any bot-like behavior, and these websites will spot it on the fly.
Manage sessions and cookies
Another thing that could trigger bans would be using the same cookies across different IPs. Yes, that can be a ban trigger as well. So what you want to do here is to keep one session per IP and not reuse cookies across proxies. It will trigger certain problems, so staying away from those is a very good idea and a thing to take into consideration.
Avoid any detectable patterns
Certain patterns are almost guaranteed to bring you a ban. The idea here is that you want to avoid the same time intervals and the same navigation paths. Instead, you want to use random page visits and delays, to avoid any patterns that could lead to a ban.
Use headers
If you are missing headers or they are not correct, that could show any signs of automation. You want to use proper headers, as that will always minimize the risks of a potential ban. A good idea is to also include the referrer, along with the accepted language and the user agent as well. This makes the requests feel more legitimate, and something which you do need to take into consideration.
Limit the request volume
As you can imagine, if you have too many requests, that could lead to an IP ban. You want to start things off slowly and then increase the number gradually. Monitor when the blocks begin and take action, then it will be much better.
Detect and handle blocks
You want to watch out for signs like CAPTCHAs, 403 or 429 errors, but also redirect loops. In case you are detected, you want to stop requests, switch IPs and also wait before retrying. It’s certainly something that will take getting used to, but the results you can receive are nothing short of impressive in the end.
Use proxy pools
A lot of people just choose to use 1-2 proxies, but that’s a mistake. Instead, you want to use a much larger number of proxies. What it does is it will make it easier to distribute requests. You can also reduce the load per IP. And as you can imagine, the chances of getting an IP ban are a lot smaller.
Conclusion
It can be tricky to try and avoid IP bans when you are using proxies. But as you can imagine, avoiding those IP bans is something that will take some getting used to. Adequate preparation and understanding the process is crucial here. At the same time, you also want to understand how to keep your requests natural and not bot-like. When you do that, it will lead to a much better experience, and you will be very happy with the results. Yes, it does take a bit of getting used to when you optimize your system to avoid IP bans, but it will always be worthwhile.
