Web scraping can feel like riding a roller coaster in the dark. One moment your scraper is cruising along, gathering data smoothly. But suddenly – a sharp turn! The target site blocks your IP, CAPTCHAs pop up endlessly, and your scraping project grinds to a halt.
As a fellow web scraping enthusiast, I definitely understand these frustrations! Blocks and blacklists can leave your scraper empty-handed. The good news is, using proxies provides a bright light to guide your web scraping projects safely through the darkness.
Integrating reliable proxies into your toolbox is a must for successful web scraping. In this comprehensive guide, you‘ll learn step-by-step how to configure proxies in ParseHub, a popular and easy-to-use scraping tool. Follow along as we shine a light on seamlessly incorporating proxies into your ParseHub workflow.
Why Web Scrapers Get Blocked, and How Proxies Help
First, let‘s briefly discuss why sites try to block scrapers, and how proxies are an essential countermeasure.
Web scraping retrieves data from sites in an automated way. Unfortunately, many sites don‘t like scrapers slurping up their data! So they deploy various blocking methods:
- Blacklisting IP addresses – Sites ban scrapers‘ IPs once detected
- CAPTCHAs – Annoying challenges that humans can pass but scrapers cannot
- Blocking user agents – Scrapers identified by "bots" in their browser user agent
These blocking approaches are a huge pain! Without proxies, scrapers‘ real IPs get blacklisted quickly and scraping stalls out.
Proxies provide revolving IP addresses so your scraper IP constantly changes. This prevents blocks, letting your scraper access data smoothly!
Oxylabs proxies offer reliable IP rotation at scale specifically optimized for web scraping. Now let‘s look at integrating them into ParseHub.
An Introduction to ParseHub for Web Scraping
ParseHub makes web scraping super simple, with a visual interface for building scrapers without coding. Some key features include:
- Visual scraping – Point and click to extract data from sites
- Browser emulation – Scrape dynamic sites that rely on JavaScript
- Workflow automation – Schedule and automate scraping runs
- Data exports – Download scraped data as CSV/JSON
With its ease of use, ParseHub is popular for scraping public web data. But like any scraper, it faces blocks without proxies.
Steps to Integrate ParseHub with Oxylabs Residential Proxies
Oxylabs provides reliable residential proxies specifically optimized for web scraping. Follow these steps to integrate ParseHub with Oxylabs residential proxies:
Step 1) Whitelist Your IP in Oxylabs Dashboard
First, you‘ll need to whitelist your IP address in the Oxylabs dashboard. This allows you to use the Oxylabs residential proxies.
To whitelist your IP:
- Log into the Oxylabs dashboard
- Go to Residential Proxies > Whitelist
- Enter your IP address
- Click "Add" to whitelist
Step 2) Sign Up for ParseHub
If you don‘t already have one, sign up for a ParseHub account at parsehub.com. You‘ll need this to access ParseHub‘s preferences where we‘ll configure the proxies.
Step 3) Install ParseHub on Your Computer
Download and install the ParseHub desktop application on your Windows, Mac or Linux machine.
You can get ParseHub here.
Step 4) Create a New ParseHub Project
Open the installed ParseHub app and create a new project.
Click the "+ New Project" button on the home screen.
Step 5) Enter the Site URL to Scrape
For this example let‘s scrape oxylabs.io. Insert https://oxylabs.io/ as the URL when creating your project.
After adding the URL, ParseHub will prepare the project. Wait for the "Browse" button to turn green.
Step 6) Access ParseHub Network Settings
With your project open in "Browse" mode, click the Preferences icon in the top right.
Go to the "Advanced" tab, open "Network" and select "Settings".
Step 7) Configure ParseHub to Use Oxylabs Residential Proxies
In the Network Settings, choose "Manual proxy configuration".
Enter pr.oxylabs.io for the HTTP Proxy field.
For the Port field, enter 7777.
This points ParseHub to use the Oxylabs residential proxies.
Step 8) Confirm the Proxy is Working
Save your settings, you should now see a message showing the proxy configuration.
The Oxylabs residential proxy will provide rotating IP addresses with each request ParseHub makes!
Visit a site like whatismyipaddress.com to confirm your IP is changing thanks to the proxy.
And that‘s it! ParseHub is now integrated with Oxylabs residential proxies for successful web scraping.
Configuring ParseHub with Oxylabs Datacenter Proxies
Oxylabs also offers reliable datacenter proxies optimized for web scraping.
Integrating ParseHub with Oxylabs datacenter proxies follows the same overall process, with a few minor differences:
1. Get Your Datacenter Proxy IP and Port
In the Oxylabs dashboard, navigate to Datacenter Proxies to find your available datacenter proxy IPs and ports.
2. Enter the Datacenter Proxy IP and Port in ParseHub
Use your datacenter proxy IP (for example 1.2.3.4) as the HTTP Proxy value in ParseHub Network Settings.
Enter your proxy‘s port (like 60000) in the Port field.
3. Save Settings
Save your datacenter proxy configuration. The proxy will provide rotating IP addresses based on settings like Proxy Rotator.
And that‘s it for integration with Oxylabs datacenter proxies too!
Rotating Multiple Proxies in ParseHub
To maximize success, you can configure ParseHub to rotate through multiple proxies:
- In ParseHub Settings, check the "Rotate IP address" box. This requires a paid ParseHub plan.
- Paste proxies each on a new line in the Custom Proxies field.
- Save Settings. ParseHub will now rotate through all your configured proxies.
Smooth Sailing for Your Web Scraping with Proxies
Using proxies is essential for reliable web scraping results. Integrating ParseHub with Oxylabs‘ optimized residential and datacenter proxies helps your projects sail smoothly.
With ParseHub‘s ease of use and Oxylabs‘ proven proxy performance, you have an unstoppable scraping stack! Configure proxies in just a few steps using this guide.
As you voyage into your next web scraping project, remember this captain‘s tip: don‘t leave port without proxies! With the right tools and knowledge, you‘ll enjoy smooth sailing through once-treacherous blocking efforts. Scraping success awaits!
