What are Public Proxies
In essence, public proxies are websites which you can simply visit through your browser. However, unlike other content sites, typical public proxies only have two pages – Landing Page and Result Page. Landing Page is nothing more than a one-field web form where you can enter a site URL; while Result Page (often called Proxified Page) displays the contents pulled from the requested server. Why call those websites “Proxies”? Because they act as your agent of web surfing. For example, instead of directly visiting YouTube.com, you first go to a public proxy site, then ask it to retrieve YouTube videos for you.
Who need Public Proxy Servers
Public proxy servers are visited by millions of people everyday. The typical users are:
College students who want to bypass school firewall filters to visit sites like Facebook or MySpace. Corporate staffs who want to open external websites that blocked by company network. Individuals who have concerns about their online privacy and want to hide their IP address. Persons who want to access web contents or streaming videos only available for certain countries. People who want to speed up their network connections to specific websites.
Are Web Proxies Free to Use
Believe it or not, most of public proxies are free to use.
On the other hand, you may see some advertisements on their sites, such as Google Adsense, Ad Banners, or Pop-ups. Through those Ads, a well-built proxy site with decent traffic often generates more than enough money to cover its operating cost. Nevertheless, as an end user, you don’t need to pay a penny to access most of public proxies.
