ScrapingBot is a web scraping tool that allows its users to extract data on any online platform. It is an excellent tool to gather content on real-estate websites and it also helps users avoid getting banned. ScrapingBot has a free subscription plan but you can always go for paid subscriptions if you want to get more features.
To fully avoid getting banned by websites, you need to pair ScrapingBot with an excellent proxy. As most websites have strict restrictions against the use of bots on their site and would immediately ban any account that’s caught using one, you need a ScrapingBot proxy to prevent getting flagged by websites.
A ScrapingBot proxy will handle all of your web requests for you so any website you visit will only be able to see the IP address of the proxy server. Through continuously rotating proxies, ScrapingBot would have a different IP on a set time interval. This deceives websites into thinking that ScrapingBot’s requests come from genuine users and not just from a single IP.
Let’s set up a ScrapingBot proxy server.
For Windows:
To set up proxies in Windows, simply search for “Proxy Settings” in your windows search bar and open the search result.
You are then given two options to choose from: Automatic proxy setup or Manual proxy setup. If you want windows to automatically detect your proxy settings, choose the first option. Choose the second option if you want to utilize a specific ip address and port number.
If you chose the first option, then:
- Turn on Automatically detect Settings
- Turn on Use setup script
- Enter the script address
- Click Save
If you chose the second option, then:
- Turn on Use a proxy server
- Input both server address and port number
- If you have any addresses you would like to visit without a proxy, enter them here
- Turn on Don’t use the proxy server for local addresses check box if you want to access a local server without a proxy
- Click Save
Image Alt Text: Windows Automatic Proxy Setup
For Mac:
To start configuring your proxy settings in MacOS, simply:
Step 1. Click on the Apple Icon.
Step 2. On the drop down menu, click on “System Preferences”.
Step 3. Click on “Network”
Step 4. Click on “Advanced”
Note: Make sure to connect to your wi-fi first.
Step 5. Click on “Proxies”
This should then redirect you to MacOS proxy settings. MacOS is more straightforward compared to windows. You only have one option which is to manually configure your proxy server.
Here are the steps to follow:
- Select which proxy IP protocol you want to configure. This depends on which protocols your proxy service provider offers.
- Turn on Secure Web Proxy
- Input the Proxy Server Address and Port Number
- Click OK to save the configurations
Note: You may be prompted for your Mac user password to save your settings.
Image Alt Text: Configuring MacOS Proxy Settings
Congratulations! You have now finished configuring a ScrapingBot proxy server.
