The modern-day affiliate marketer resembles a centipede. A marketer must efficiently promote goods and services and overcome many obstacles like blocked online resources, banned accounts, and the traffic sources’ anti-fraud systems.
In this article, we’ll go over what proxies and VPNs are when using proxies is appropriate and what VPNs are even for in affiliate marketing.
What’s a proxy?
When you connect to the Internet, your device is assigned an individual address (IP address). It can be used to gather a lot of data about its owner. An IP address can determine the user’s location, Internet provider, full name, phone number, and address.
If you want to hide your IP address, use a proxy. It will substitute your IP address for another one and help you to stay anonymous.
Proxies are located on special proxy servers.
How do proxy servers work?
Your computer or any other device connects to a proxy server, receives an anonymous IP address, and then goes online to visit whatever resource you want.
A proxy server is a computer that acts as an intermediary between the user and the website they wish to connect to. If you use a proxy server, all the websites you visit see its IP address instead of your real one. For example, if you bought a German proxy, you will be regarded as a user from Germany online.
This method allows you to gain access to blocked websites, use special parsing, mailing and farming programs, and online services, and much more, all the while maintaining your anonymity.
What’s a VPN and how does it work?
A VPN is a virtual private network that ensures your online confidentiality. Sounds similar to a proxy but there’s still a difference.
How is a VPN different from a proxy?
Once your computer is connected to a VPN, all your traffic passes through a secure tunnel. A VPN connection routes and protects all traffic on your network down to the operating system level, ensuring complete anonymity and security.
A proxy server can redirect web requests, but unlike with a VPN, you don’t go online but rather just send your Internet connection through a proxy server. The proxy server allows you to access certain sites using someone else’s IP.
A VPN does a lot more in terms of security and privacy since it uses end-to-end encryption. Your data is completely safe at any point of its “journey” through the servers. Neither cybercriminals nor your competitors will be able to intercept such information. In other words, the protection provided by a VPN is more reliable than that of a proxy.
On the downside, VPNs are more expensive, and VPN connections tend to be slower than proxies.
Proc and cons of VPN and proxy
Pros | Cons | |
|---|---|---|
| VPN | routes all traffic through a secure tunnel; uses end-to-end encryption, ensures absolute anonymity. | allows to access certain sites using someone else’s IP; only protects your location and personal data. |
| Proxy | more expensive and slower than proxies | less secure than VPNs |
How to use proxies and VPNs in affiliate marketing?
Proxy servers and VPNs are essential tools if you engage in the promotion of goods and services. Let’s take a closer look at what proxies and VPNs are for in affiliate marketing, what tasks they solve, and how affiliates should use a VPN.
Use them for security and high speed
- To maintain your anonymity
Proxies and VPNs ensure your anonymity. Any of your online activities: from basic surfing the web, account farming, parsing, and mailing to working with various commercial platforms, can be hidden using a proxy or VPN.
- To ensure your security
A proxy server and VPN increase the security of the connection, protect your computer from scammers and hackers, and make it possible to access even unsafe websites.
- To enhance your connection speed
Connecting a proxy considerably increases your speed when connecting to various websites, which is crucial in affiliate marketing.
- For advanced spying
If you want to advertise on a specific website for a specific GEO, you can access it through a proxy server. You will be able to see what ads are currently shown on the site for the users of this GEO, where exactly the ads are placed and to what landing pages do the posted links lead to.
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Use them for ad campaigns
- To work with offers from different GEOs
VPNs help affiliate marketers work with offers from different GEOs.
Before accepting and launching the offer, you’ll want to check out its website to familiarize yourself with the product or service, its advantages, promotions, discounts, and such.
Moreover, when assessing the website, you have to look through a person’s eyes from the GEO your ad campaign will be focused on. If you’re in Poland, while the campaign is aimed at Germany, the affiliate network will redirect you to a page intended for people from Poland, given, of course, that the offer is multilingual. Otherwise, you will simply not be taken to the offer page.
- For setting up, testing, optimizing, and scaling campaigns for various GEOs
How to use a VPN in affiliate marketing when creating, testing, and optimizing a campaign?
Once your campaign is created, you need to roleplay as the user a bit and perform all their actions after clicking on your banner. You must make sure that after the banner, the tracker sends them to the landing page and after that successfully redirects them to the advertiser’s website, where they will perform the target action.
Being in Poland, without a proxy server, you won’t be able to check if your campaign for Argentina is configured correctly.
A proxy server will also be needed for further testing and optimizing, and scaling the campaign for a specific GEO.
Use VPN and proxy to get maximum from your ad campaigns at RichAds
What is RichAds?
🔝 Push and pop ads,
🔼 CPC starts from $ 0.003,
🔝 CPM from $0,3 in Tier 3, $0,5 in Tier 2, $1 in Tier 1,
⏫ large volumes of available traffic in more than 200 geos.
To bypass restrictions and working with special software
- For working with particular software
Parsing software developers initially make sure their software is suitable for proxies. If you need to parse user addresses, keys, content, then a proxy is a must.
- To bypass restrictions
The proxy will allow you to visit web resources that are blocked and inaccessible in certain countries. For example, Russia’s notorious decision to ban Telegram resulted in users massively switching to proxies to retain access to the messenger.
Each traffic source has its own set of rules. If you, willingly or unwittingly, violate them, for example, advertise a prohibited product or choose the wrong ad format, your account gets banned. A proxy server will let you just create a new account for the same website.
- To bypass anti-fraud systems
Proxies are especially useful for working with Facebook and Google Ads. You’ll need a separate IP address for each of these services. Accounts registered from the same IP address get banned very quickly.
Proxy servers are required for the mass registration of accounts in other social networks and instant messengers.
Working with social networks through particular browsers (Multiloginapp or Linken Sphere) hides your hardware settings but doesn’t provide any network protection. To ensure the security of your accounts, you also need a proxy.
What’s better for an affiliate marketer — a proxy or a VPN?
Both proxies and VPNs are used in affiliate marketing. The choice of this or that tool is determined by both the complexity and importance of the task at hand and the personal preferences of the affiliate.
A review of proxy servers for affiliates
1. AstroProxy
This is a large premium network. AstroProxy offers hundreds of thousands of resident addresses for any GEO, free testing, and a refund policy.
Advantages:
- Create order and instantly receive a proxy that’s available 24/7.
- A detailed FAQ section
- Detailed descriptions of all types of proxy networks.
- Many available GEOs, including Tier 1.
- Expert support and free testing.
- Large volume discounts.
- All proxies in one panel, flexible configuration for any software and task.
- You can group them by various parameters
- 100% compatible with most programs.
2. iProxy.online
The service offers private mobile proxies for Android devices. Includes all necessary management features.
Advantages:
- Ability to remotely change the IP address + ability to change it by clicking a link.
- High speed.
- Maximum control.
- Automatic change of IP addresses.
- A Telegram bot for notifications and management of IP changes.
- Support for SOCKS5 and HTTP proxies.
- Ability to create multiple proxy access points to one phone.
- Unlimited traffic.
3. 911 S5
Residential proxies. IP addresses of over 190 countries.
Advantages:
- Access to IP addresses by country, state, city, IP range, ZIP, ISP, etc.
- Free software.
- Supports all Windows operating systems.
- Lifetime use.
- Secure encryption and guaranteed anonymity.
- Sales analytics.
- Brand protection.
- Self-testing.
4. Proxys.io
This service provides elite proxies with high speed and uptime.
Advantages:
- 24/7 support.
- Multiple payment gateways and 50 payment methods.
- Individual IPv4 proxies.
- Shared IPv4 proxies.
- Individual IPv6 proxies.
- A new generation of IP addresses.
- Orders are issued automatically.
- An affiliate program.
- A 24-hour refund policy.
- HTTP and SOCKS protocols.
- IP address authorization.
Find 14 Best Trackers for Affiliate Marketing in 2021 here.
A review of VPNs for affiliates
1. Netmap
A popular VPN provider armed with a numerous arsenal of servers around the world.
Capabilities:
- High level of traffic encryption.
- No logs kept.
- High connection speed
- Suitable for all available platforms and operating systems.
- 24/7 tech support.
- An affiliate program.
2. ExpressVPN
This service is recognized as a sort of leader in the VPN sector
Capabilities:
- Private web surfing.
- Access to blocked websites
- Unlimited streaming
- IP address camouflage
- 160 VPN server locations.
- The best encryption methods.
- VPN speed test.
- Private DNS servers.
- No user visit history logs.
3. Free Avira Phantom VPN
Convenient and secure access to websites and services and complete personal data protection.
Capabilities:
- Anonymous web browsing.
- Secure connection.
- Access to blocked websites.
- VPN supports multiple devices.
- Streaming.
- Confidentiality.
- Access to censored social networks.
- Searches for better deals on the market, for example, cheaper airline tickets.
4. IPVanish
A VPN that offers secure access and high connection speeds.
Capabilities:
- No logs kept.
- Quality protocols, secure service.
- Very comfortable speeds.
- A useful connections map.
- Grants access to Netflix content.
Proxies and VPNs are essential tools for affiliates. They provide online anonymity and freedom of action, security and confidentiality of data, make it possible to bypass restrictions and minimize the likelihood of getting your account banned by traffic sources.
How to Build a Successful VPN Ads Campaign in 2021 read here.
Use VPN and proxy to get maximum from your ad campaigns at RichAds
What is RichAds?
🔝 Push and pop ads,
🔼 CPC starts from $ 0.003,
🔝 CPM from $0,3 in Tier 3, $0,5 in Tier 2, $1 in Tier 1,
⏫ large volumes of available traffic in more than 200 geos.
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