Think locally, scrape globally: Web scraping gets easier with Oxylabs’ 175M proxy pool and AI tools

ZDNET’s David Gewirtz tested Oxylabs, a web scraping proxy service that offers over 175 million residential proxies across 195 countries, significantly outpacing competitors like IPRoyal (32 million) and MarsProxies (1 million). The platform combines extensive proxy infrastructure with AI-powered data parsing tools, positioning it as a comprehensive solution for enterprise-scale web scraping operations.

What you should know: Oxylabs distinguishes itself through both scale and ethical sourcing practices in the competitive proxy services market.

• The company maintains 175 million residential proxies across 195 countries, dwarfing competitors’ offerings.
• Residential proxy access is obtained ethically by paying computer owners small amounts for bandwidth usage through various apps.
• Beyond residential proxies, Oxylabs offers ISP proxies, mobile proxies, data center proxies, and dedicated data center proxies for different use cases.

How the AI integration works: Oxylabs’ OxyCopilot AI tool streamlines the traditionally complex process of parsing scraped web data.

• Users can input a URL and simple parsing instructions like “Please extract current product name and price. Indicate if the price is a discounted price or the regular price.”
• The AI automatically creates JSON structures that integrate with the Oxylabs API to return only requested data.
• What typically takes hours of manual coding can be completed in under five minutes using the AI tool.

In plain English: Web scraping typically involves two challenging steps: first, gathering data from websites without being blocked, and second, extracting useful information from messy web pages filled with ads and formatting code. Oxylabs solves the first problem by spreading requests across millions of different internet connections, making it harder for websites to detect and block the scraping. Their AI tool tackles the second challenge by automatically identifying and organizing the specific information you need from cluttered web pages.

Developer experience highlights: The platform provides comprehensive resources and testing capabilities for technical implementation.

• Oxylabs offers pre-written code blocks for CURL, Python, PHP, C#, Go, Java, Node.js, and JSON.
• The company maintains a YouTube channel with 425 instructional videos and provides an API playground for testing.
• Documentation and training materials received high marks for clarity and comprehensiveness.

The big picture: Oxylabs addresses two critical pain points in web scraping: avoiding IP blocks through massive proxy pools and simplifying data extraction through AI automation.

• Larger proxy pools reduce the likelihood of individual machines being flagged as intrusive by websites.
• The AI parsing capability eliminates the “algorithmically non-trivial” challenge of extracting usable information from raw HTML data.
• This combination of scale and automation tools positions Oxylabs for enterprise customers requiring reliable, large-scale data collection.

What the expert says: Gewirtz, ZDNET’s Senior Contributing Editor, emphasized the platform’s ethical approach and technical capabilities while noting room for improvement.

• “From the point of view of ethical sourcing, Oxylabs seems like a good choice. And, judging from my limited testing, it’s also a good choice from a programming and algorithmic point of view.”
• He recommended the company change the “OxyCopilot” name due to potential trademark conflicts with Microsoft’s Copilot.