In recent years, machine learning (ML) has transformed numerous industries. ChatGPT had 1 million users within the first five days of its release. One of the areas where it has made progress the most is search engine optimization, which relies heavily on quality data.
According to Statcounter GlobalStats, Google holds over 90% of the worldwide search engine market share. This makes it a prime source for gathering data, especially for effective SEO practices. Companies use automated data collection to audit websites, get keyword data, or for local SEO.
However, web scraping is impossible without proxy servers that mask the real user’s identity and location. Proxyway’s research revealed that some providers offer proxies that can retrieve public data from Google with nearly a 100% percent of success rate.
Beating Google at Its Own Game
Gathering data from Google allows businesses to see how well they adhere to SEO practices and to analyze the competition. Even though tools like Ahrefs or Semrush show similar results, they’re expensive in the long run and not very flexible. For example, such tools may not cover specific use cases like local SEO well.
However, Google servers are among the most protective in the world. The search engine uses a reCAPTCHA anti-bot system, which can be easily triggered when a user sends hundreds or thousands of requests from the same IP address. And this can lead to CAPTCHAs and IP blocks.
Websites limit the number of requests a user can make from one IP address. So, scraping the web with a single IP is almost impossible at scale. With the help of proxies, a user can have multiple addresses at once from different locations, making it hard for websites to detect automation. However, not all proxies can successfully tap into Google data.
There are two main proxy types marketers use when gathering data from Google: residential and datacenter. If the user is web scraping minor search engines or running site audits, datacenter addresses are more cost-efficient. On the other hand, residential proxies resemble real users’ IP addresses, making them harder for websites to block. Additionally, they support more locations and are easier to manage.
Growing Demand for Machine Learning
Large language models and AI training need a lot of data collected from various sources, most of which comes from web scraping. Therefore, businesses expect high-quality data, which often requires the use of proxies, proxy-based products, or pre-scraped datasets.
Google has implemented machine learning models to provide users with more accurate search results and detect malicious traffic. Such models can even identify requests that are coming from residential proxies. Consequently, proxy and web scraping providers must adapt to changes to create products capable of handling the latest protection mechanisms.
AI-related use cases have already impacted half of the proxy providers participating in the proxy market research. They are experimenting with AI-based scrapers, proxy product enhancements, and external systems like chatbots. What’s more, major providers today offer at least one product to companies looking to improve their machine-learning models.
However, the market is filled with marketing promises – some providers claim to have the best proxies to access well-protected websites easily. Such services need to be tested to see whether some proxies are worth investing in.
Proxyway – a leading researcher of proxies and web scraping infrastructure – looked at the thirteen major proxy providers and tested their proxy products to address this. The tests were run with real targets like Google, Amazon, and social media.
The Bottom Line
Integrating machine learning in SEO has changed data collection, with proxies playing a vital role in fighting Google’s anti-bot systems. Residential proxies allow mimicking real user’s behavior, while data center proxies remain a cost-effective choice for less protected search engines.
As AI evolves, businesses must test and adapt their data collection strategies to stay ahead. Proxyway’s comprehensive evaluation of leading proxy providers highlights the importance of selecting high-quality proxies to ensure successful data gathering.
