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What Is a Proxy Server? How It Works, Types, and Use Cases

TL;DR: A proxy server acts as an intermediary between your device and the internet, masking your IP address and routing your requests through alternative IPs. Businesses use proxies to bypass geo-restrictions, avoid blocks and CAPTCHAs, scrape web data at scale, verify ads, monitor prices, and maintain online anonymity. With the proxy market projected to reach USD 3.12 billion by 2032, understanding which proxy type fits your needs can make the difference between seamless data collection and constant roadblocks.

How To Find All URLs on a Domain

Whether you're running an SEO audit, planning a site migration, or hunting down broken links, there's one task you'll inevitably face – finding every URL on a website. It sounds simple, but it isn't. Search engines don't index everything, sitemaps are often outdated, and dynamic pages hide behind JavaScript. This guide walks you through every major discovery method, from quick Google search operators and no-code scrapers to custom Python scripts.
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What is Data Scraping? Definition and Best Techniques (2026)

The data scraping tools market is growing significantly, valued at approximately $875.46M in 2026. The market is projected to grow more due to the increasing demand for real-time data collection across various industries.

Google Disrupts World's Largest Residential Proxy Network: Why Ethical IP Sourcing Matters

Google Threat Intelligence Group, together with Cloudflare, Spur, and Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, announced that it dismantled IPIDEA, one of the world's largest residential proxy networks, reducing available devices for proxy operators by millions. The network facilitated espionage operations, cybercrime, and botnet attacks while hijacking consumer bandwidth without proper consent. In a single 7-day period in January, over 550 individual threat groups from China, DPRK, Iran, and Russia used IPIDEA infrastructure to mask malicious activities. This disruption highlights a critical but often overlooked risk in digital operations. How companies source IP addresses and proxy services directly impacts security posture, regulatory compliance, and ethical standing in an increasingly scrutinized digital landscape.

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Master VBA Web Scraping for Excel: A 2026 Guide

Excel is an incredibly powerful data management and analysis tool. But did you know that it can also automatically retrieve data for you? In this article, we’ll explore Excel's many features and its integration with Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to effectively scrape and parse data from the web.

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Digital Squatting Is Becoming a Big Problem for Brands Worldwide

In 2025, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) handled a record 6.2K domain name disputes, marking the highest total in the organization's history. This figure represents a continuation of the alarming upward trend, with cybersquatting cases rising 68% since the 2020 pandemic. Domain squatting has evolved far beyond a simple trademark nuisance. Today, criminal networks register fake domains to steal customer data, distribute malware, and destroy brand reputations built over decades.

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How to Scrape Etsy in 2026

Etsy is a global marketplace with millions of handmade, vintage, and unique products across every category imaginable. Scraping Etsy listings gives you access to valuable market data – competitor pricing, trending products, seller performance, and customer sentiment. In this guide, we'll show you how to scrape Etsy using Python, Playwright, and residential proxies to extract product titles, prices, ratings, shop names, and URLs from any Etsy search or category page.

How to Run Python Code in Terminal

The terminal might seem intimidating at first, but it's one of the most powerful tools for Python development. The terminal gives you direct control over your Python environment for such tasks as running scripts, managing packages, or debugging code. In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about using Python in the terminal, from basic commands to advanced troubleshooting techniques.

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How to Leverage ChatGPT for Effective Web Scraping

Artificial intelligence is transforming various fields, ushering in new possibilities for automation and efficiency. As one of the leading AI tools, ChatGPT can be especially helpful in the realm of data collection, where it serves as a powerful ally in extracting and parsing information. So, in this blog post, we provide a step-by-step guide to using ChatGPT for web scraping. Additionally, we explore the limitations of using ChatGPT for this purpose and offer an alternative method for scraping the web.

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The Best Coding Language for Web Scraping in 2026

Web scraping is a powerful way to collect publicly accessible data for research, monitoring, and analysis, but the tools you choose can greatly influence the results. In this article, we review six of the most popular programming languages for web scraping, breaking down their key characteristics, strengths, and limitations. To make the comparison practical, each section also includes a simple code example that highlights the language’s syntax and overall approach to basic scraping tasks.

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How to Bypass CAPTCHAs: The Ultimate Guide 2026

So, there you are, casually surfing the net, when… a CAPTCHA appears out of the blue, interrupting your flow. Yes, it’s that little test making sure you’re not a robot, and let’s face it – it can really slow down your processes. The great news? You don’t have to be stuck. It’s possible to bypass CAPTCHAs. So, buckle up, and let’s dive into the tricks that make these roadblocks the past.

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OnlyFans Scraping: The Complete Guide 2026

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the way content creators, influencers, and artists connect with their audience and monetize their talents. OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform, has emerged as a website that allows creators to share exclusive content directly with their dedicated followers for a subscription fee.

OnlyFans scraping, which involves extracting publicly available data from the website, has sparked an interest. In this blog post, we’ll delve into this scraping world, its possible use cases, and the benefits it offers. Excited to learn more? Buckle up, and let’s begin!

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Web Scraping in C#: From Zero to Production Code [2026 Guide]

Manually copying data from websites? That's what interns are for – except you don't have interns. Good news: C# can automate the tedious stuff. While Python dominates the web scraping conversation, C# has matured into a legitimate contender with robust libraries, type safety, and performance that actually matters in production. Let's learn more about it.

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A Comprehensive Guide on Using Proxy with cURL in 2026

Whether you're a developer or an IT professional, data is an essential element of your everyday tasks. One of the most popular tools for data transfer is cURL (client for URL), which is embedded in almost every device that transfers data over different internet protocols.

However, when it comes to transferring data through a proxy, using cURL becomes even more critical. So, let's delve into the basics of cURL and proxies, discuss how it works, and get valuable tips on how to use cURL with proxy settings.

So, buckle up, pal, and get ready to learn how to use cURL with proxy and why it is essential in data transfer.

Top 10 MCPs for AI Workflows in 2026

MCP has shifted from niche adoption to widespread use, with major platforms like OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google supporting it natively. Public directories now feature thousands of MCP servers from community developers and vendors, covering everything from developer tools to business solutions.

In this guide, you'll learn what MCP is and why it matters for real-world AI agents, which 10 MCP servers are currently most useful, and how to safely choose and combine MCPs for your setup.

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Go vs. Python: A 2026 Developer's Guide

The Go vs Python comparison is a key discussion among developers. Go (Golang), created at Google, excels in performance, scalability, and concise syntax for distributed systems. Meanwhile, Python prioritizes readability and rapid development with a vast library ecosystem. Understanding these core differences is crucial for developers choosing tech stacks in 2026 and beyond. Let's dive in!

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Retry Failed Python Requests in 2026

There’s no reliable Python application that doesn’t have a built-in failed HTTP request handling. You could be fetching API data, scraping websites, or interacting with web services, but unexpected failures like timeouts, connection issues, or server errors can disrupt your workflow at any time. This blog post explores strategies to manage these failures using Python’s requests library, including retry logic, best practices, and techniques like integrating proxies or custom retry mechanisms.

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How to Build a Labubu Bot with Residential Proxies: Step-by-Step Guide

Getting your hands on limited-edition Labubu figures like The Monsters, Big Into Energy, or Labubu Exciting Macaron has gotten absolutely wild lately. Once Pop Mart announced that they would no longer sell these figures in physical stores, the online shop got some serious traffic. But we're also talking about these Pop Mart drops selling out in literal seconds – forget about trying to cop manually, you'll never make it past the cart page. And thousands of users complain that they can’t cop a mystery box for themselves. Luckily, there’s an automated solution that’ll help you to get at least a couple of Labubus. The trusty bot, tuned with residential proxies, will handle CAPTCHAs, geo-blocks, and IP bans, helping you reach the checkout page as quickly as possible. This guide breaks down all the tactics that actually work, straight from people who've been crushing these drops consistently.

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