What is a proxy? A web proxy is a site which allows access to restricted online materials. For example, people accessing the internet via a network (at the office or school) may find that certain websites are blocked. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace as well as video sharing sites like Youtube or Blip are often blocked by network administrators. By visiting a proxy site (which has not been blocked by the network), users are able to circumvent these filters.
Sometimes users will use a proxy in order to access country-specific content. Typically this will be video clips from TV shows which are only allowed to be viewed by people in the broadcast country. By using a proxy website based in the USA for example, it appears to the destination website that the users IP originates in the States, whereas the user could be from anywhere in the world.
Proxies also have another use; protecting anonymity online by hiding your IP address from the sites that you visit. Your IP address can reveal your physical location as well as details of your internet service provider (ISP) to the sites you visit. Some people are uneasy about sharing such personal information so decide to browse the web through a proxy server.
The best way to familiarize yourself with a proxy site is to visit and use a few. We link to a number of active proxy sites from our proxy toplist page. Once you know the answer to “What is a proxy?” question and know how they work you can build your own money-making proxy empire.