The Best Proxies for Google Scraping: Our Top 8 Picks
Google scraping is all the rage these days. But if you try to monitor Google rankings or track keywords too often without a Google proxy network, you will block your IP or run into a CAPTCHA quickly.
Since scraping Google is so valuable, we tested proxy providers by targeting Google’s servers. We ran automated tests and measured major proxy services performance by running thousands of connection requests for each of them.
Need to scrape more than Google? Check out the Best Web Scraping Proxies list. Or you can use SERP API services that will handle proxies and web scraping challenges for you.
1. Smartproxy
Smartproxy sells quality residential IPs for copping Nike. It’s well known and respected among sneakerheads for being easy to use and not charging a ton. Great customer support.
- 55M residential IPs
- All locations
- 30 min. rotation time
- Affordable
- Traffic-based pricing
2. Infatica
Infatica’s success rate on Google was one of the best. Its servers handle a lot of load, you can choose rotation between 5-60 minutes, though it lacks better user experience.
- 15M residential IPs
- Many locations
- Competitive pricing
- 7-day free trial
- No top ups
Use the code proxyway2024 to get 20% off your first purchase.
3. Nimbleway
Nimbleway’s residential proxies had the highest success rate on Google. The provider targets enterprises, so don’t expect cheap rates. It offers all the necessary features.
- 150 locations
- 30 min sticky sessions
- Extensive documentation
- Expensive
4. NetNut
NetNut mainly targets large businesses. Its residential IPs were very successful on Google, so if you need proxies at scale, the service will fit your expectations.
- 85M residential IPs
- Good for high loads
- Pay for successful result
- Not as user friendly
- Entry plans lock features
5. SOAX
SOAX’s residential proxies work very well on Google. This, along with the provider’s flexible rotation settings, make it a reliable choice for Google scraping.
- 155M residential IPs
- Many locations
- Great success rate
- Flexible rotation
- Steep entry price
- No API
6. Rayobyte
Rayobyte’s residential IPs had a good success rate on Google but were slow. It’s a price efficient option once you go over 50GBs. Good set of features but limited rotation options.
- 150 locations
- City-level targeting
- Scales at 50 GB+
- Slow proxies
- No custom rotation
7. Webshare
Webshare’s residential proxies come with absolute self-service and customizable subscription. Not many features for web scraping Google, but great price.
- 30M residential proxies
- Good pricing
- Complete self-service
- API
- No live chat support
- Can’t select cities
8. Dataimpulse
Dataimpulse doesn’t have the best success rate on Google, but it offers bargain residential proxies. You can get IPs for as little as $1 for 1 GB.
- Cheapest residential IPs
- 150 locations
- Self-service
- Up to ZIP code targeting
- Price doubles with extra features
- Small proxy pool
How We Chose the Best Proxies for Google Scraping
Scraping Google Search results is a real technical challenge. The search giants are very good at detecting and blocking scrapers, so successful Google scrapes often depend on the quality of your scraping software.
Since we’re a proxy review site and not real hard-core scrapers, we chose the easy way to objectively test proxies: we just sent a huge number of concurrent connection requests to Google and measured the response codes we got.
We also measured the speed of those connections, but this was secondary to success rate, as what good is your ultra-speedy proxy when you are experiencing death by ReCaptcha. The top 6 providers in our list rank by their network scalability, speed and features they offer.
While we’re talking CAPTCHAs – we can say that they’re the measure of the proxy network quality, so we counted CAPTCHA response rates as failed connections. That means top Google proxies in our list are also the ones that have the absolute lowest abuse rate.
Are Proxies for Scraping Google Maps Any Different?
Scraping Google Maps for GMB and other SEO data is not that much different. You will still need proxies that are residential, because datacenter IP addresses are too easy to block through subnetwork bans. Another vital criterion for proxies is that they should not be abused on Google and have good scalability. This is why our top Google proxy list also applies to scraping Google Maps.
How Proxies Help You Scrape Local Google Results
Scraping local Google results is a bit trickier. You can use Google’s settings to set a location, but to really extract data that appears on localized searches you need to have local IP addresses.
This is why scraping Google for local results requires a proxy network with location targeting. For instance, some of the top providers in this list, like Smartproxy and SOAX, have an easy backconnect method to access IP addresses in any of close to 200 countries in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions About Google Proxies
A Google proxy is a proxy IP address that lets you access various Google services. Proxies are used to see how content is displayed in different locations and to avoid IP blocks when scraping Google Search.
Yes. Proxies are perfect for changing your location, so that you can see and scrape local results from Google. In fact, it’s one of their primary use cases.
If you know what you’re doing, datacenter proxies will suffice. But if you need proxies for local results or some high-volume scraping, you’ll be better off with residential proxies instead.
Sure, there’s plenty of proxy lists online. But those IPs will be a hassle more than an asset. We strongly suggest investing in paid proxies. If you’re on the fence, most providers offer money-back guarantees. Go try one.