We’re happy to announce that a new edition of Proxyway’s annual market report has been released! As always, access is free and open to all.

This year’s research includes:

• 11 (plus one) proxy server providers representing all segments of the market.
• Investigation of four proxy types: residential, mobile, rotating datacenter, and dedicated ISP proxies.
• Large-scale performance benchmarks, including new metrics like session length and residential proxy device type.
• Overview of industry trends, such as the impact of AI and commoditization of proxy networks.

“I came from an odd background, not networking-related. In 2018/9, I was responsible for two large, UK-based “cook groups” (reseller groups). I started by providing information on products for resale; at the time, it was graphics cards and game consoles. At one point, we were securing graphics cards by the hundreds. One customer used to drive to my university accommodation to buy all of them for his mining rig.



To get my hands on that number of products, I had to develop some sort of automation and proxy knowledge. After a while, I met Ryan (CEO of Rampage) through a chance encounter. He needed someone to take the wheel at Rampage, and I got the chance to mix hobby and business into one.
”

Rampage Proxies functions as a proxy panel, which – to us, at least – isn’t a very frequent form of reselling. Could you briefly explain how your business model works?

“In 2021 we switched to a model we call proxy mediation, where we sell upstreams, openly, without ambiguity. The idea was to allow access to all the biggest proxy providers, all in one place. 



With a Rampage account, we provide access to nine (at time of writing) residential providers – at a better price than if you bought pay-as-you-go direct. We source traffic in bulk and pass those savings on to the customer. While predominantly focusing on PAYG (B2C and B2B), we serve every customer from hobbyists to enterprises.

The proxy mediation model means the barrier to entry for anyone is now as low as it’s ever been. We’re giving access to some big names at 40% lower compared to direct PAYG prices.”

How do proxy panels differ from whitelabeling, and why did you choose this approach?

“Our approach is different to the typical reseller model. We work on transparency, openly selling named brands at a discount. It’s a common industry practice to obfuscate where supplies come from, and mix in lower quality supply to increase margins. Proxy mediation means we operate transparently, so customers can use our services knowing exactly what proxy pool they’re using.



We also realised that customers who want to purchase in smaller volume are locked into committing to either bulk purchase (to leverage volume for price), or are forced to pay higher prices for smaller bandwidth packages, sometimes with less favorable terms like expiry. 



Proxy panels can often offer better terms. For example, with Rampage, very few providers we offer through the proxy mediation service expire. Customers are free to use their traffic at their own pace without a contract or having to pay extra for smaller usage.

Where resellers may only offer one or two providers, proxy panels give you the option to move between providers, without needing to set up multiple accounts or move platforms. 



This also means that enterprise customers (particularly those who use multiple providers) can access better pricing. Using multiple providers through a single platform like Rampage means heavy-bandwidth users can access pricing based on total volume, rather than per provider. For example, if a company uses 3 TB per month with Provider A, and 5 TB per month with Provider B, Rampage can give them rates based on 8 TB per month of usage.
”

What are your criteria for including providers in the roster? For example, do you prioritize unique proxy pools, brand visibility, or perhaps something else?

“There are a lot of factors that go into deciding whether a provider can become a part of Rampage. The most important is quality. Whilst we aim to bring a broad spectrum of providers to the platform, it doesn’t make sense to sell 500 “churn and burn” providers where the quality is reflected in the ultra-low price.



Given that we already sell five of the largest residential proxy providers, we have a large amount of data that we can use to see how unique an emerging provider is. We’ve got pretty good at understanding what comes from where, and there is no point onboarding two providers where their supplies cross over greatly, either from sharing an SDK/source or reselling one another.



One of the ways we make sure that our customers will have a good experience is by thoroughly analysing and testing a provider before we make any integration. 



We also consider whether the company itself meets our strict compliance standards. We’ll only work with ethical companies that are public-facing and transparent about how they source their IPs. These standards ensure we not only protect our customers, but providers’ supply too.”

Is it hard to bring major providers on board? Are you bound by any rules that are stricter – or maybe the opposite, more relaxed, compared to shopping on their own platforms?

“Each major provider presents their own unique challenges in terms of negotiating pricing, commitments, and restrictions with Rampage. We are bound by the same rules as everyone else when it comes to proxy usage.”

We’ve noticed that policies on reselling swing like a pendulum: last year, it was prohibited, this year, resellers are welcome. What do you think might be causing these shifts?

“The upstream providers may have finally realised the value of resellers in the industry. What we’re seeing here is a fundamental shift in how providers approach resellers.



Over the last few years, it appears the providers have realised the value resellers bring and have been slowly unrolling restrictions to allow resellers to grow and gain back some of the lost market share. Resellers often work in niche markets, mostly untouched by the base provider, so competition is less of a concern, and growth potential can be great.



The problem arises when resellers’ growth drives the price of the product down. As they grow, they demand lower and lower prices, which can hurt the bottom line of the provider. 



Resellers’ growth can even eventually steal part of the provider’s market share. As this happens, the upstreams start to clamp down and impose restrictions on the resellers. We saw this in the sneaker industry where a few companies became huge, and were acquired, which resulted in prices doubling or tripling year on year.


I think the providers realised the resellers are here to stay. There’s absolutely no way any one provider can corner the entire market of proxies, which is why resellers exist.”

Over the past two years, most providers have undergone several rounds of price cuts, particularly in the lower range. In addition, we’re seeing them spin up their own white label brands, cutting into the rates even more. Do you perceive this as a threat to your business and reselling in general?

“We don’t see this as a threat. If there are identical pools, it gives resellers and proxy panels the leverage to get their IPs cheaper, and then pass the savings directly to customers. It’s not a threat to reselling because it highlights the place the resellers have in the market, and is something that is clearly lucrative enough for larger companies to create their own resellers or white-label brands to help corner more segments of the market. 



The perfect example of this is the introduction of the new Bright Data subsidiary Toolip. They sell (and I’ve had this confirmed) the same IPs that Bright Data do – just on considerably more B2C-friendly terms. I’m all for growth, so it looks like Bright Data have realised that certain customers don’t want to pay $8 or so per GB or commit to large packages for better pricing, which could force them into a competitor’s pocket instead.


It feels like a race to the bottom. The market is commoditised, so it’s becoming increasingly difficult for a provider to stand out on anything more than price.



Big enterprise customers can be lost to a competitor over the sake of a few cents per gigabyte. If someone’s looking for 1PB of traffic, they’re going to be searching for the best-case pricing. It’s not uncommon for a customer to come, compare quotes, and then barter intensely based on quotes provided by all companies over a few weeks to try and get the absolute cheapest price per GB.”

Furthermore, the market is getting saturated with cheap and functionally identical Chinese proxy providers, which generate even more white label brands. What are your thoughts on this trend?

“It’s not always intentional, although it’s easy to point the finger. It’s really important to remember that there are only so many sources of IPs, especially big ones. Even if a provider isn’t a blanket reseller of another, they might share the same or some of the same SDKs or network services that provide those IPs. In any market, it’s common for Chinese resellers to move in and create cheaper products of lower quality – it’s the Temu-ification of the proxy market.



That being said, it’s more important than ever to do your due diligence and be careful when purchasing, and there are plenty of resources to help, like Proxyway.”

But enough about others. Can you share your plans for the future – well, at least 2025?

“We’ve got a really exciting year coming up. The product we’ve got in the workshop at the moment ends the decision fatigue, pricing issues, and compatibility problems commonly found when searching for proxies. We’re building a new product that combines our current offering with data-driven insights on residential proxy aggregation that will allow anyone to use any provider we offer, with just a single proxy.

”

Google, the largest search engine, has started requiring JavaScript rendering to display search results.

Without it, Google refuses to deliver the query and rather redirects to instructions for enabling JavaScript.

The change took place sometime between January 15 and 16. It was noticed and discussed on Hacker News.

For now, the workaround is to run headless browsers or change the user agent to one of JavaScript-free web browsers, such as Lynx.

Google’s move has affected most commercial scraping APIs, either disrupting their services or notably increasing the latency due to the forced switch to browser-based crawlers.