What types of proxies are best for Zoominfo scraping?

When scraping data from a site like Zoominfo, which is a business information platform with robust anti-scraping measures, you should use proxies that disguise your scraping activity and make it look like a regular user behavior. Here are the types of proxies that are typically considered the best for this purpose:

1. Residential Proxies: These are IP addresses provided by internet service providers (ISPs) to homeowners. They are legitimate IPs and are less likely to be flagged or blocked because they look like normal user traffic. Residential proxies are considered the best for scraping protected sites like Zoominfo because they are real user IPs.

2. Rotating Proxies: Rotating proxies change the IP address with every request or after a certain period. This is useful for scraping because it minimizes the chances of being detected as a scraper. Most rotating proxies are residential, but some services offer rotating datacenter proxies as well.

3. Mobile Proxies: These proxies route your requests through mobile devices and are similar to residential proxies. They are very hard to detect because they use IPs assigned to mobile devices that are also constantly changing locations.

4. Premium Proxies: These proxies are paid and tend to be more reliable and of higher quality than free proxies. They usually offer both residential and data center options, and premium services often give you better speeds and uptime.

Avoid using:

• Shared Proxies: These are used by multiple users at the same time and are more likely to be detected and blocked.
• Public Proxies: These are freely available and are often abused by various users, leading to a higher chance of being blacklisted.

When scraping Zoominfo or similar services, you should also consider:

• Rate Limiting: Always control the number of requests you send to avoid being detected. This can be done by setting a delay between requests or by limiting the number of concurrent connections.
• Headers: Use realistic headers to mimic a real web browser, including the User-Agent, Accept-Language, and other headers that make your requests look like they come from a legitimate user.
• Cookies: Maintain cookie sessions if necessary, as this can also add to the legitimacy of your requests.
• JavaScript Rendering: Sites like Zoominfo may require JavaScript to display data. Use tools like Selenium, Puppeteer, or a headless browser that can execute JavaScript to scrape such sites.

Here is an example of how you might set up a simple scraper using Python with requests and a proxy:

import requests
from requests.exceptions import ProxyError

proxies = {
    'http': 'http://your-residential-proxy:port',
    'https': 'http://your-residential-proxy:port',
}

try:
    response = requests.get('https://www.zoominfo.com/', proxies=proxies)
    # Process the response here
except ProxyError as e:
    print("Proxy error:", e)

For JavaScript, you might use Puppeteer with a proxy like so:

const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');

(async () => {
    const browser = await puppeteer.launch({
        args: ['--proxy-server=your-residential-proxy:port'],
    });
    const page = await browser.newPage();
    await page.goto('https://www.zoominfo.com/');
    // Process the page content
    await browser.close();
})();

Remember to replace 'your-residential-proxy:port' with the actual details of your proxy server. Also, be aware of the legal and ethical considerations when scraping data. Always check Zoominfo's terms of service and comply with their rules and regulations regarding automated data collection.