Detection & trust · glossary

Bot detection

Bot detection is the set of techniques a website uses to tell automated clients from human visitors: IP reputation and autonomous-system class, request rate and timing, TLS and HTTP fingerprints, browser and device fingerprints, JavaScript challenges and behavioural signals. The verdict decides whether a request receives the normal page, a CAPTCHA, degraded content or a block. Proxies address the IP part of that equation and nothing else.

2 min read Also called bot management, anti-bot Updated

Layers of detection#

LayerSignalsWhat helps
NetworkIP reputation, ASN class, geolocation consistencyResidential, ISP or mobile exits in the right country
TransportTLS fingerprint (JA3/JA4), HTTP/2 settings, header orderA real browser or a client that imitates one faithfully
BrowserCanvas, fonts, WebGL, screen, time zone, languageConsistent profiles; one identity per session
BehaviourRate, navigation paths, mouse and scroll events, timingHuman-like pacing, sticky sessions for flows

What a proxy changes#

A proxy replaces the network layer. A datacenter exit fails the first row; a residential exit passes it. Every other row is unchanged, which is why a perfect residential pool still gets challenged by a crawler with a headless-browser fingerprint at machine speed.

Signs you are being detected#

  • HTTP 403 or 429 on pages a browser loads fine.
  • CAPTCHAs on the first request.
  • Pages that render but with prices or listings missing (soft blocks).
  • Redirects to an "unusual traffic" page.

How it works at ProxShift#

ProxShift documents which network to use per target in the use-case guides: residential for sites that score visitors, ISP for accounts, mobile for the most protected platforms, datacenter where trust is not tested.

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