Proxyrack has been supplying reliable, affordable, and easy-to-deploy residential and datacenter proxies since 2014. With over 100,000 users and more than a billion page requests, they focus on a humans-first work culture that then carries forward to their clients. We caught up with Katy Salgado, a proxy specialist with Proxyrack, to discuss balance, industry regulation, and making the world a better place—one proxy at a time.
EWDCI: Can you give us the elevator pitch for Proxyrack?
Katy Salgado: Proxyrack offers residential and datacenter proxy solutions to help businesses navigate the complexities of global web access. With an intuitive API and a self-service control panel, Proxyrack connects you to millions of unique IP addresses worldwide, giving you the flexibility and scalability you need to overcome geo-restrictions, ensure data privacy, and optimize your online operations.
EWDCI: What do you wish more people understood about web scraping?
KS: When it comes to web scraping, many people focus solely on using the right IPs, but it’s equally important to understand the importance of request headers and respecting the load on the website being scraped. Proper headers ensure your requests are treated appropriately by the server, helping to avoid detection or being blocked. Also, web scraping should be done responsibly, considering the impact on the website’s performance and respecting the website owner’s resources. This balance is key to ethical and effective web scraping.
EWDCI: How have global events impacted your growth and service offerings in the last few years?
KS: The increasing emphasis on data privacy and regulatory compliance has really highlighted the importance of vetting clients and making sure our IPs are ethically sourced. This focus on ethical practices has not only helped us maintain trust with our clients but also ensured long-term sustainability in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
EWDCI: What effect has the rapid growth of AI had on your service offerings?
KS: We are aware that some of our customers are utilizing our services to support their AI model development, but this hasn’t significantly influenced our internal service offerings at this point—so the impact has been minimal so far. However, we recognize the growing importance of AI and it is a near-future focus for us.
EWDCI: On your website it says, “[W]ith a proxy you’re not trying to save the world.” But how CAN proxies help the world?
KS: While our primary focus is on providing robust infrastructure, proxies do have the potential to contribute significantly to the world, particularly in scientific research. For example, proxies can be used to access public scientific content, enabling researchers to access vital information and datasets that might otherwise be unavailable. This can be crucial in building AI models that could, in turn, address global challenges.
Although we’re not directly aiming to “save the world” with our proxies, we recognize the role they can play in supporting important work, and we are committed to offering accessible solutions to academia in the near future.
EWDCI: What are the most innovative use cases for your products that you’ve seen?
KS: Innovation can be quite subjective, and while we respect the privacy of our customers and their specific use cases, we’ve observed some remarkable ways our products are being utilized. One standout example involves users developing tools that help the average consumer save money, which is particularly impactful in today’s environment of high interest rates and rising costs of living. These solutions demonstrate how our products can empower individuals and businesses to navigate financial challenges more effectively.
EWDCI: Where does government policy interface with your work on a daily basis?
KS: Government policy doesn’t typically interfere with our daily operations, as our industry is largely unregulated. This has led us to establish our own standards for regulation, compliance, and ethics. However, we do interact with government policies when necessary, particularly when responding to legal requests. Ensuring that we are not a safe harbor for malicious activity is a top priority, and we fully cooperate with authorities in such cases.
EWDCI: Why did your team find it important to join the EWDCI?
KS: For several reasons. We are aligned with promoting ethical standards in web scraping, and we agree that building trust and credibility is good for the entire industry, not just ourselves.
Eventually regulation will make its way further into this industry, and we want to take a leadership role in making sure that any legislation is healthy. Also, collaborating with other web scraping companies through the EWDCI gives us more eyes on regulation in different parts of the world, which helps us with compliance.