What are the best tools or methods to avoid getting blocked by rate limiting?

Rate limiting is a mechanism implemented by website owners to control the amount of traffic a user can send to a server in a given timeframe. This usually targets bots to prevent large-scale data extraction. To avoid being flagged for violating rate limits, it is advisable to design scraping solutions to make requests at a slower rate, mimicking human browsing behavior, instead of aggressively hitting servers. This method is insufficient for large-scale data collection. Therefore, it is necessary to rotate IPs through data centers or residential proxies to simulate requests from different geographical locations, leading to the evasion of rate limits.

There are a few methods of rate limiting, one is based on the IP address and most people know you can rent proxies and rotate IP addresses to work around that. A more difficult aspect is when the website requires a full browser and creates a unique fingerprint for your device based on variables inside that browser instance, using dozens or even thousands of variables that when assembled together form a unique device fingerprint for your machine(s) and then manage a rate limit based on that. You need control of a customized browser to be able to generate a unique device fingerprint on demand.

To avoid getting blocked by rate limiting, it's essential to employ effective rate limiting management tools such as Redis or API Gateway services that allow for controlling and distributing requests within permitted thresholds. Additionally, implementing strategies like exponential backoff, caching frequently accessed data, and optimizing requests can help mitigate the risk of hitting rate limits. Regular monitoring of API usage, handling rate limit headers appropriately, and simulating rate limits during development are also crucial practices to ensure a robust and resilient application that operates within the bounds of rate limits without being blocked.

We have distributed scrapers, all scrape workers ask to our middle proxy (aka endpoint selector) our proxy decides which endpoint (data line, tablet, computer) waiting for request, each endpoint gets cooldown after some requests. This is the best practice for us, also we use third party proxy service to make request abroad countries.

Residential proxies from providers like Dataimpulse.com assign IP addresses associated with real residential internet users. By rotating these IPs, scrapers can appear as legitimate users, reducing the risk of detection and IP blocks. This mimics human browsing behavior, making it harder for websites to detect and block automated scraping activities.

In my opinion do not change your user-agent from same ip. Most web site block you with using same ip and different user-agents. Another point is if you make request main url, you should make request with same uaser-agent and headers for sub-requests (xhr etc.)

Randomizing user agent footprint helps in many scenarios. Make sure to use the proper user agent string because the response returned by the website will vary depending on what type of user agent is used. A mobile user agent will return a mobile web page whereas a desktop user agent will return a desktop page. Some user agents might get blocked too.

Websites can identify you by your user agent, which reveals the type of device or software making the request. Here's how to add some variety: Custom User Agents: Craft user agents that mimic different browsers or operating systems. This makes you appear like a regular user, not an automated script. User Agent Rotators: Let automation do the work! Tools can automatically switch your user agent with each request, further mimicking human behavior.

Randomize your user-agent strings to simulate requests coming from different browsers and devices, making it harder for the server to detect a pattern. Libraries like fake-useragent in Python or custom user-agent rotation scripts can help us achieve this

Varying your user agent is far from straightforward. You should prioritize user agents that are widespread and can blend in with the crowd. If you're scraping with Chrome or Firefox, even if you always use one or the other, it's not too abnormal. However, the underlying issue is that when you declare a user agent, the technology behind it needs to match or appear to match, because more advanced anti-bot systems check that all the information is consistent.

Scraping and crawling are different methods, if you crawl a web site, you should pay attention for robot.txt to keep safe side your crawlers.

The robots.txt file is a website's rulebook for bots. While it's primarily for search engines, it can also contain instructions on what data you can and cannot access. Here's how to be a good data citizen: Check the robots.txt: Before diving in, take a peek at the robots.txt file. It might highlight specific areas that are off-limits for scraping or data collection. Obey the Rules: Respect the website's guidelines. This not only avoids getting blocked but also ensures you're collecting data ethically and responsibly.

If you crawl in a way that respects the web, of course, you comply with that. But then the points mentioned above are irrelevant: we use a real user agent, our real IP, etc. Overall, we are talking about scraping techniques to avoid being detected and blocked. Otherwise, we do everything visibly and get whitelisted.

Adding a delay in your code when web scraping can help avoid rate limits set by servers. If you send too many requests quickly, the server might reject your requests or block your IP. By pausing for a few seconds every few requests, you reduce the load on the server and avoid potential issues. Always check the website’s scraping policy and respect it.

In addition to what Arianne Mentioned, you can redirect to the home page, wait then send a request to the desired page in headless mode but the home page must open once. It worked

Adjusting request timing depends your frequency of scraping, for an example we scrape 100k urls every hour, sometimes timing is not important when you obey the rules of the target site.

Get a subscription for rotating proxies and rotate the IP address on every request made. If you purchased a limited number of proxies, try to find out what's the max rate limit within a time window and then spread and plan your requests accordingly. Using rotating proxies enables you to use multithreading to speed up the whole process and not get rate limited at all since the requests are being made with different IP addresses. Randomize user agents in each request too. Try randomizing your request headers if possible and it will work better in most scenarios. Add delays when necessary. Use a reasonable number of threads if you're planning for multithreading, otherwise weak servers may become unresponsive.

Imagine a website being bombarded with requests. Not cool, right? Here's how to be polite and avoid overwhelming the system: Spread Out Your Requests: Don't bombard the website with a barrage of requests at once. Space them out over time, mimicking a natural user browsing pattern. Respect Time Limits: Some websites might have specific time windows for data access. Be mindful of these restrictions and adjust your scraping schedule accordingly.

Headless browsers are too costly if your scrape frequency is high. If you have to use headless browser pay attenion these lines; - set random delay for navigating each page - first load main page - do some fake mouse movements - do some fake input focus - scroll to bottom while page height (smoothly) - use up to dated driver that already has fingerprints

"When scraping data from a website for digital marketing purposes, if no alternative API is available, it's advisable to use Axios in node.js and headless mode. It's important to put a timer of 2-3 seconds between the original scraping page and the home page of the website to avoid any rate-limiting issues. To prevent IP address blocking, it's recommended to first redirect to the home page, wait for some time, and then go to the desired page. This method has been successfully used on the Google Trends website, as direct requests on the desired page were giving too many requests error."

Sometimes the website firewall may demand javascript rendering or other parameters to detect if a regular visitor or a scraper software is accessing their website. Using a headless browser helps to convince the firewall to get access to the website easily. Scraper APIs also help additionally as it is handled by 3rd party services to help you get the page response that you wanted without having to worry about how the data is being processed bypassing the firewall.

Every firewall is different. Some websites have easy firewalls, some have complex ones. Play with different options to see what works best to bypass that and get the page content that you want. Always consider trying proxies, browser automation frameworks, and user agent randomization, try finding API endpoints instead of loading the website as a whole and you'll end up finding a sweet spot to web scrape your target website. It requires a trial and error, so never give up. Sometimes one framework might fail, try another and it might magically start working for you. Some websites might have honeypots, avoid triggering them. And some are so intelligent that you'll end up finding no solution to web scrape them.

In general, if you want to build a legitimate business based on scraping, it's probably better to be known and not operate in stealth mode. You can then get added to lists of authorized bots. Life becomes much easier that way.