Guides, Tutorials & Insights
Learn about residential proxies, web scraping, data collection strategies, and industry best practices from the Shifter team.
How SEO Platforms Use SERP APIs for Rank Tracking and Keyword Monitoring
If your product runs on search data, collection is a cost centre rather than a moat. Here is what SEO platforms buy, what they build, and where economics bite.
James Meadow · September 3, 2026 Residential Proxy Setup Checklist for Your First Project
Twelve checks, in order, from first request to a job you can leave running. Work down the list and you will avoid the mistakes that cost first-timers a month.
Matt Brown · September 2, 2026 Trademark Abuse Detection Without Getting Blocked
Trademark abuse hides in ads and listings that never surface from one location. Detection is the easy half; staying able to collect is the hard one.
James Meadow · September 2, 2026 Monitoring Unauthorized Sellers and MAP Violations at Scale
Both problems come from one dataset: who sells your products, where, and at what price. Here is how to collect it and act on it without drowning in noise.
James Meadow · September 2, 2026 How to Detect Counterfeit Listings Across Global Marketplaces
Counterfeits hide behind geography, not just keywords. Here is how to search marketplaces as a local buyer would and turn findings into usable evidence.
Matt Brown · September 2, 2026 Catching Cloaked and Geo-Targeted Ads Competitors Hide From You
Competitor ads you cannot see from your desk are not hidden by accident. Here is how cloaking and geo-targeting work, and how to see what real users are shown.
James Meadow · September 1, 2026 Verifying Ad Placements at Scale: A Playbook for AdTech Teams
A verification programme is a sampling strategy, an evidence standard, and an escalation path. Here is how to design all three so findings get acted on.
Matt Brown · September 1, 2026 How to Detect Ad Fraud Across 195+ Countries in Real Time
You cannot detect fraud from the dashboard reporting it. Detection means checking placements from real user vantage points, in every market, continuously.
James Meadow · September 1, 2026 Are Residential Proxies Legal? What You Need to Know
Using a proxy is legal in most places. What you do through it, and how the network sourced its addresses, is where the actual risk sits.
James Meadow · August 31, 2026