Note: This is a guest post written by Wilfred Thomas – Did you know 5.07 million business registration applications were submitted in the US alone in 2022? Now, imagine how many businesses open up worldwide every year!
With an increase in the number of businesses, the competition between them has also gotten fierce over the past few decades. In today’s data-driven time, one way for companies to steer ahead is to use data to their advantage.
Unfortunately, much of online data is hidden behind geo-blocks, paywalls, and other restrictions. There’s a solution for this, though.
Proxies help users bypass these restrictions to access content from websites around the globe. A proxy for mobile further makes this process more streamlined and anonymous. Want to learn how? Let’s dive in.
Types of Proxies: How Do They Work?
All proxies have a similar working mechanism. They are intermediaries that send access requests to target websites using their assigned IP addresses, concealing yours in the process.
The main types of proxies are:
- Residential proxies
- Data center proxies
- Mobile proxies
The IP addresses assigned to residential proxies come from real physical addresses, i.e., the internet connections in homes and apartment units. Due to this, residential proxies are incredibly secure and don’t raise much suspicion.
Datacenter proxy servers get IP addresses from data centers. They’re not as secure but are relatively faster and cheaper.
What about mobile proxies, then? They’re a bit different because they’re not linked to a physical address, such as a data center or a home.
Instead, they get the IP addresses mobile carriers assign to their users. When you use a mobile proxy to access a website, the server will see it as a request coming from a 4G/3G connection.
How Mobile Proxies Work: Carrier Grade NAT
When the internet initially started, not many people expected it to be as big as it is today. The IPv4 network originally used only provides about 4 billion IP addresses.
Now that more and more people are using the internet, a scarcity of IPv4 addresses has begun. These IP addresses are quite expensive today, costing about $60 or more.
Telecom companies cannot afford to provide such expensive unique IP addresses to each customer. They use a technology called Carrier Grade NAT, which allows multiple devices to share the same IP address.
Simply put, when you get a mobile proxy, it’s highly likely that hundreds of other users also have the same IP address as you. That might sound like a shortcoming, but it’s actually a blessing in disguise.
Suppose you use a mobile proxy for data mining. The target website suspects you to be a bot. It won’t block you right away since that could result in losing real users who share the same IP address. So, a proxy for mobile can actually save you from getting banned or blacklisted.
When to Use Mobile Proxies for Business
The business landscape is constantly fluctuating, and the competition keeps getting fiercer by the day. How can you use mobile proxies to stay ahead? Here are some use cases.
Data Mining
The global big data market is all set to become a $104-billion giant by 2027. And why not? Data drives most business decisions today.
Do you want to access data behind a geo-block? Use a proxy for mobile. The same applies to collecting data from market research and consumer sentiment analysis.
SEO Monitoring
A Pew Research report found that 15% of Americans are smartphone-only web users. That means they only use a smartphone to connect to the internet. Similarly, over half the web traffic comes from mobile phones.
So, it’s imperative for businesses to see how their websites look and feel for mobile users. A proxy for mobile helps you see if your website’s SEO is per Google’s mobile-first strategy.
Social Media Handling
If 97% of Fortune 500 companies use social media, it means every business should. But that often means appointing multiple social media managers.
Social media management is often a remote job. So, employees can log in to accounts from different connections and devices. Multiple IPs logging into the same account is a red flag for platforms.
A proxy for mobile can solve this problem, as businesses can give the same IP address to all social managers. It lowers the risk of account suspension and helps teams avoid interruptions.
Web Browsing
Employee carelessness is one of the top reasons for cybersecurity concerns in organizations. Poor cybersecurity training often leads to employees accidentally downloading malware or engaging in activities that compromise company data.
Mobile proxies allow employees to surf the web without exposing their IP addresses. They can also keep themselves anonymous and avoid getting hacked.
Conclusion
Any business not using proxies today is lagging. A proxy for mobile can bridge the gap between your business and success, allowing you to leverage market and competitor data for better decision-making. Plus, proxies keep your employees safe and anonymous on the web, limiting cybersecurity risks.
