Proxies have become the backbone of the digital economy. Businesses rely on proxy networks to scale data acquisition, ad verification, web scraping and more. However, the opaque nature of the proxy industry raises critical questions around ethics. Who is really providing those residential IP addresses? And does the end justify the means?
I sat down with Neil Emeigh, CEO of Blazing SEO, for an insider‘s look at the proxy ethics debate. Blazing SEO has been outspoken about taking an ethical approach to proxy acquisition and use.
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The Proxy Boom
The proxy market has exploded in recent years. Proxy service revenue is projected to grow at an 11% CAGR to reach $1.6 billion by 2024 according to Market Research Future. This reflects intense and growing demand.
What‘s driving this proxy boom? As Neil explains, "In this new era of proxies, and especially data gathering, web scraping is growing rapidly. And with that growth, people need to fulfill their business data needs."
Proxies enable businesses to scale data extraction from websites, ad verification across regions, price monitoring across retailers and more. They provide access to data that would otherwise be extremely difficult or impossible to obtain at scale.
And so as data has become the new oil – the fuel for everything from e-commerce to machine learning – demand for proxies keeps growing.
The Ethical Dilemma
But with this proxy demand boom, there‘s a dark underbelly. As proxies become more crucial, providers are racing to expand their networks to win market share. And some engage in unethical practices to get there.
Residential proxies based on actual home devices are in particularly high demand. And there are two primary ways to acquire residential IPs:
Consent-Based: Providers like Blazing SEO obtain explicit consent from end-users through incentives and compensation. The end-user opts in knowingly and willingly.
Non-Consent: Some providers resort to questionable techniques like botnets and malware to turn unsuspecting home devices into proxies without the user‘s knowledge or permission.
Malware approaches allow unethical proxy providers to rapidly expand their residential IP pools into the hundreds of millions. But they raise serious ethical and legal concerns.
"Unfortunately, many providers in the market acquire end-user device proxy IPs with all means necessary. And a lot of times, it means malicious code, malicious software that the end-user doesn’t even know about, and it’s being installed on their computer. Those are called botnets in most cases," Neil explains.
Blazing SEO‘s Ethical Stance
Blazing SEO was founded on the principles of ethics and quality. And those principles inform their proxy acquisition strategy.
"We believe it‘s the long-term future," says Neil. Even if it means slower short-term growth.
For Blazing SEO, residential proxies come from two ethical sources:
Opt-In Incentives Platform: Blazing partners with a company called CashRaven which pays end-users to opt-in as proxies. Users explicitly consent to share their bandwidth in exchange for cash payments, gift cards, in-game rewards and more.
Vetted Resellers: Blazing SEO also resells proxies from a handful of other verified providers that meet their strict ethical standards. This expands their pool while still ensuring consent-based origination.
In fact, Blazing SEO turns down major contracts worth tens of thousands in monthly revenue if a prospect‘s use case doesn‘t align with their ethics.
"We believe that many unethical approaches are being used in the market today, not any individual that I’ll single out. But in the general market, corners are being cut because the laws don’t really exist," Neil says.
Scale vs. Ethics – Can You Have Both?
Blazing SEO‘s ethical stance comes at a real business cost. Their residential proxy pool is orders of magnitude smaller than top proxy providers who rely heavily on botnets and malware.
"By taking this ethical approach, our pool size is a little smaller than the others. And I say little; actually, it’s a lot. Because again, a botnet, that’s how you can get hundreds of millions of IPs," Neil admits.
So how does Blazing SEO compete? Neil sees it as a long-term play. As demand grows, customers will start to question providers with opaque or questionable origination practices. Data ethics are moving front and center.
And when laws and regulations inevitably catch up to shady proxy practices, Blazing SEO will be ahead of the curve. Unethical providers may be able to cut corners now, but in the long run ethics and compliance will win out.
Should Businesses Care?
When evaluating proxy providers, businesses may wonder – does ethics really matter?
The answer is yes. As Neil explains, "Do you want to work with a company that thinks it’s OK to acquire IPs from end-user devices that don’t know they’re being used as a proxy?"
Beyond the legal risks, it reflects poorly on the provider‘s overall judgement and principles. Are they truly a trusted partner you want to rely on?
By working with an unethical proxy provider, businesses also indirectly enable those harms. Your brand could be connected to malware, spamming complaints or other issues down the line.
There are real risks – over 75% of businesses surveyed by IBM had experienced a data breach due to a third party vendor or supplier. Ethics matter when choosing partners.
Evolving Legislation to Combat Unethical Proxies
Right now, laws and regulations around proxy practices are limited. Certain egregious activities like botnet creation are illegal, but issues around consent remain gray areas.
"Many unethical approaches are being used in the market today, not any individual that I’ll single out. But in the general market, corners are being cut because the laws don’t really exist," says Neil.
But expect legislation to evolve as proxies become more mainstream and crucial for business. Lawmakers will be pressured to combat shady practices that introduce security and privacy risks.
We may see regulations requiring clear consent from residential proxy sources. Cybersecurity laws could also crack down on botnets and malware. Expect tighter restrictions on how consumer data can be commercialized without permission.
"In the future, as data itself becomes the next oil, as they say, proxies have to follow suit in terms of being ethical and obviously legal and be ahead of the laws. Ethics have to be ahead of the law," Neil predicts.
Advice for Businesses on Proxy Selection
So what should businesses look for in an ethical proxy provider? Here are a few tips:
Ask about residential IP sources: Any reluctance to share details here is a major red flag. Legitimate providers should be transparent if acquiring ethically.
Review use cases they reject: Providers with strong ethics will turn down any illegal or clearly unethical use cases. This shows commitment.
Research their leadership: Look for executives who take a public stance on ethics. Read their content and speeches for insights into company values.
Evaluate their customer base: Are most customers legitimate businesses? Or are they dominated by spammers and scrapers? Another indicator.
Consider reseller sources: If the provider resells residential IPs, scrutinize the sources. Require they vet origins thoroughly.
Final Takeaways
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Businesses should absolutely prioritize ethics when selecting a proxy provider. This reflects on the provider‘s judgement and principles.
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Blazing SEO‘s interview offers rare insight into how proxy ethics impact providers who take a strong stance. Competing on quality and compliance vs pure scale.
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With proxy demand booming, expect more debate on balancing growth with ethics. Malware approaches unlikely to persist long-term.
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Watch for evolving legislation to regulate proxy practices as they become more mainstream. Likely focused on consent, privacy and security.
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Scrutinize residential IP sources, use case policies and more when vetting providers. Ethics matter.
Blazing SEO proves you can compete in proxies with an ethical approach – though it comes at a real cost. As Neil says, "We believe that many unethical approaches are being used in the market today…But we believe that many unethical approaches are being used in the market today, not any individual that I’ll single out. But in the general market, corners are being cut because the laws don’t really exist."
