right, so i was at the airport bar and this new guy asked me where to get free proxies for scraping. almost spilled my drink laughing, lmao. but seriously, it's not funny. look at any provider you actually pay for - residential, mobile, even datacenter - and compare their specs to anything 'free'. free proxies are basically recycled garbage that everyone else has already burned through. it's not just about speed tests. check the block rates. i ran a test last month with three scrapers on separate tasks. paid residential pool had a 2% block rate after 10k requests. the 'free' list i grabbed from some forum had a 78% block rate after 100 requests. your tools spend more time switching proxies than actually working, show me the numbers if you think otherwise. and then there's the location chaos. you think you're getting a german proxy for localized content? nah, you're probably hitting some vpn endpoint in miami that every other bot is also using. ip detection systems flag those pools immediately.
free proxies? good way to burn a $500 campaign in an afternoon
- Thread starter Bounty
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free proxies? good way to burn a $500 campaign in an afternoon
YEAH, you hit the nail on the head. free proxies are basically like throwing darts in the dark. they might work for a little while but then BOOM, you get burned. the thing is, it's not just about speed or block rates, it's about consistency and location accuracy. but honestly, if someone thinks they can scrape effectively with free proxies, they're playing with fire. the ROI on those is always bad news. better off spending a bit more on legit pools if you want your campaigns to stay afloat and not just waste a ton of time switching proxies all day. pump the brakes on those cheap solutions, man
Honestly, I gotta disagree a little. Yes, consistency and location accuracy matter but if your proxies are garbage to start with, no amount of tweaking will save your campaign. I've seen so many folks chase after perfect location data and forget the basics, like reliable, legit proxies that actually stick around
Gleam
New member
Chasing perfect location data? Yeah sure, but sometimes that's just a fancy way to burn more budget on a pipe dream. The real game is understanding how proxies actually perform over time, not just the shiny specs on paper. Most of those "perfect" proxies are just overpriced flames. Location accuracy only matters if your entire funnel hinges on hyper-local content.
lol, no. chasing perfect location data is just cope for bad proxies. if your proxy game is weak you end up chasing shadows and wasting cash. real roi is micro-influencers and tier 1 traffic is dead for health offers. focus on what actually works instead of shiny specs.
Summit
New member
OH MY GOD, THE IRONY IS ALMOST TOO MUCH. people act like free proxies are some kinda secret sauce, but then they get surprised when their campaign flops in a few hours. if you actually crunch the numbers, paid residential proxies have a 2 percent block rate after 10k requests, while free ones hit 78 percent after 100. that's not just a small gap, that's a canyon. your tools are spending more time fighting proxies than making sales.
Compile
New member
Honestly, this whole free proxies myth drives me nuts. Back in the day, I tried to save a few bucks and went the cheap route, thinking it was a smart move. Ended up burning way more ad spend than I saved because my proxies were garbage. My CTR tanked, my LP was full of bot traffic, and my CPA shot through the roof. It's like trying to run a race with shoes full of holes. You think you're saving money, but really you're just wasting what little profit you got left over. And people still fall for this nonsense like it's some kind of hack. Newsflash: paid proxies exist for a reason. They work. They're stable. They don't get blacklisted every five minutes. Sure, they cost more, but my ROAS used to look like a horror movie when I played with free stuff. If your proxies are recycled garbage, don't expect your campaign to last longer than a bad joke. Focus on quality, not some cheap forum list. Otherwise you're just gonna end up chasing shadows and your ad account will be crying in the corner.
okay, so i gotta call BS on the whole free proxies being useless thing. yeah, most of them are cooked garbage, no doubt. but it's not like paid proxies are some magic bullet. source: i broke it myself, i ran tests with different tiers and some legit paid pools can still be trash if they oversell or get cooked fast. the problem is a lot of folks are lazy or too broke to know what makes a good proxy network. location chaos? sure, if you grab a free list from a forum, you're playing roulette. but good paid proxies?
Nexus
New member
here's the thing though, people act like free proxies are totally useless but the thing is if you know what you're doing you can actually find some semi-reliable ones that don't totally ruin your campaign but yeah they're not gonna be your first choice for serious stuff because like summit said the numbers speak for themselves and if you're burning through proxies faster than you can say ROI then maybe just maybe you're doing it wrong or not understanding the game. you gotta remember most free proxies are recycled trash but that doesn't mean all of them are absolute garbage, just that the odds are heavily stacked against you and that's why most pros stick with paid stuff unless they're doing some quick test or smth. so yeah, don't get it twisted, paid proxies aren't magic but they sure as hell save you a lot of headache and wasted spend, especially when you're trying to scale or run legit campaigns.
Let me stop you right there. Comparing free proxies to paid is like trying to run a race with shoes full of holes.
Sure, you might limp along for a bit, but don't expect to break any records or keep your campaign afloat. If you think skimping on proxies is gonna save you bucks, think again. Your traffic source is secondary to offer and LP
sketch, appreciate the disagreement but show me the actual numbers if you think location doesn't matter. i've seen enough tests to know that garbage proxies kill campaigns faster than a noose on a sunday. update: just burned 500 on some 'highly targeted' free proxies, and the CTR tanked harder than my will to keep doing this after midnight. no freebie is worth the headache.
Exactly, free proxies are like playing Russian roulette with your campaign. CPMs are rigged enough w/o adding sketchy IPs to the mix. Cheap proxies with rotation at least give some illusion of control but really its just another game of cat and mouse. Burn more money trying to hide your tracks than actually making profits.
Upside
New member
People love to act like free proxies are some kind of magic fix but it's just noise. You burn more in hours than you save. The key is control and consistency. Cheap proxies with rotation, sure, but only if you know what you're doing. Otherwise you end up with a blacklisted IP or worse, a burned campaign. If your lander has a loading screen you already lost. Don't get lazy on the basics.
i mean, technically free proxies can work if you know how to clean and rotate them properly but lets be honest most folks just use whatever's free and call it a day and then wonder why their campaign tanks. it's not about saving a few bucks its about control and avoiding getting blacklisted like a noob. sometimes the cheap proxies are just a different kind of sketchy and you pay for it in the long run.
Bishop
New member
honestly, free proxies are just a gamble. most of the time they're overused or already blacklisted. u get what u pay for and that's usually not much. better to spend a little on legit proxies, rotate properly, and keep control of ur campaign. otherwise u just throwing money away, imo.
Tap
New member
Let me put my old man hat on... proxies are just like any tool, if you dont know what you're doing they'll burn you fast. Free proxies? Yeah, they look tempting but most of the time they're blacklisted or already overused. Spend a little more on legit ones and control your rotation.
Proxies are just a piece. If your setup sucks, no proxy gonna save you. Spend right, rotate tight, and keep control. Otherwise, rekt.
Nomad
New member
hot take incoming: free proxies are just cope for lazy LARPers. yeah, they might seem tempting but most are already cooked or flagged, and you'll just burn your campaign faster than you can say ROI. source: trust me bro, spend a little more, rotate smart, and keep control. otherwise you're just throwing good money after bad.
YEP, exactly. If you're spending money on proxies and not controlling your setup, you're just throwing good money after bad. Been there, blew my budget thinking cheap was the way. Now I understand you get what you pay for and control your rotation. Otherwise, you just end up chasing shadows.
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