Why location matters
Websites change what they show by location: prices, currencies, search results, ads, stock, language and even whether a page loads at all. A proxy in the right place lets you see what local visitors see. For the general idea, see geo-targeted proxies.
Webshare handles location differently for each product.
Location options by product
| Product | Location control | How you set it |
|---|---|---|
| Proxy Server (datacenter) | Country | Chosen when you build the plan |
| Static Residential (ISP) | Country (where available) | Chosen when you build the plan |
| Rotating Residential | Country, state, city, ZIP, ASN | Username parameters or endpoint generator |
For proxy lists, location is fixed at purchase: you choose the countries your IPs come from, and the list reflects that. Webshare's datacenter network spans 50+ countries at the time of writing. For rotating residential traffic, location is chosen per request through the username, which means one plan can serve many countries.
Residential targeting levels
Webshare's rotating residential network covers 195 countries and supports fine targeting:
- Country. The most common choice. Large pools, good speed.
- State or region. Useful for US state-level pricing, regional news and legal differences.
- City. For local search, local ads and delivery-area pricing.
- ZIP code. For hyperlocal checks, such as delivery availability or store-level stock.
- ASN. A specific internet provider's network, for testing how a site treats a given ISP's users or for matching an expected carrier.
Webshare's residential page shows city targeting written into the username, in a pattern like username-{country_code}-city_{city_name}. Use the dashboard's endpoint generator to build the exact string for your plan instead of typing it by hand.
How narrow should you go?
Narrow targeting shrinks the pool you rotate through. A country pool might hold millions of IPs; a single ZIP code might hold a handful at any moment. That has real effects:
- Fewer unique IPs, so rotation repeats sooner and blocks are likelier.
- Slower or failed connections when few IPs are online.
- Higher error rates at night in small locations, when home devices are offline.
Rule of thumb: use the broadest level that still gives correct results. Test whether a site actually changes results at city level before paying the reliability cost of city targeting.
Checking that targeting works
- Request a geolocation service through the proxy and confirm the country, region and city.
- Load the target page and check local signals: currency, language, store selector, local phone numbers.
- Repeat several times with rotation on, since different IPs can geolocate differently in different databases.
curl -x "http://USERNAME-us-city_chicago:PASSWORD@p.webshare.io:80" https://ipinfo.io/jsonReplace the username pattern with the one your dashboard generates. More tests in Webshare with cURL.
Budget tip: Before scaling, run a short pilot with Webshare on your real targets and record success rate, latency and bandwidth per result. Our our complete Webshare guide explains which Webshare product fits which job.
Common uses for geo-targeting
- Local SEO rank tracking. See Webshare for SEO rank tracking.
- Ad verification by region. See Webshare for ad verification.
- Regional pricing. See Webshare for price monitoring and travel fares.
- Localization QA. See Webshare for localization testing.
How it compares
Webshare's ZIP-level residential targeting is more granular than many providers offer. Geonode supports country, state, city and ASN targeting on its residential network, which covers most of the same use cases. See Webshare vs Geonode geo-targeting.
Geo-targeting recipes
| Goal | Product and targeting | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| See a national site as a local visitor | Datacenter list in that country | Cheapest; switch to residential if blocked |
| National search rankings | Residential, country | Large pool, stable results |
| Local pack or map rankings | Residential, city | Set search location parameters too |
| Delivery availability by postcode | Residential, ZIP, sticky session | Set the site's delivery location in the session |
| State-specific pricing or rules | Residential, state | Common in US retail and insurance |
| How an ISP's users see a site | Residential, ASN | Useful for QA and fraud testing |
Matching the rest of the context
IP location is one signal among several. Websites also read browser language, timezone, currency settings, stored cookies and, in browsers, geolocation permissions. For accurate local results:
- Set
Accept-Languageto the local language. - In browsers, set locale and timezone to match the IP.
- Clear cookies between locations so a previous country isn't remembered.
- Set any site-specific location (store, delivery postcode) explicitly.
Handling thin locations
Small towns and ZIP codes may have only a few residential IPs online at a time. If you see slow connections or errors:
- Widen to the city or state.
- Run at local daytime, when more devices are online.
- Reduce concurrency for that location.
- Accept a slightly broader location if results don't actually differ.
Proxy tip: For a second opinion on hard targets, run the same test through Geonode residential proxies, which support sticky sessions up to 24 hours and ASN targeting. We compare the two in Webshare vs Geonode.
Location and cost
Targeting doesn't change Webshare's per-GB price, but narrow targets can raise your real cost through failures and retries. Track success rate per location and widen targeting where it's poor.
A real-world example
A food delivery comparison site needs to check which restaurants and fees appear for 40 postcodes across three US cities. City-level residential IPs give inconsistent results because the delivery app uses the address set in the session rather than IP alone. The team switches to ZIP-targeted residential sessions and sets the delivery address explicitly at the start of each session. Results become consistent, and they widen targeting to city level for postcodes where ZIP pools were too thin, without any loss of accuracy.
For the bigger picture beyond these two providers, read our best proxies buyer's guide, and see cheap proxies for ways to cut cost per successful request.
Key takeaways
- Proxy lists have fixed countries chosen at purchase; rotating residential traffic is targeted per request.
- Residential targeting covers country, state, city, ZIP and ASN.
- Narrow targeting shrinks the pool, which can cause slower connections and more failures.
- Match browser language, timezone and site location settings to the IP for accurate local results.
- Verify location with several geolocation services and the target's own signals.
FAQ
Can I change the country of my Webshare proxy list?
Locations for proxy lists are chosen in the plan settings. You can adjust the plan to change countries, which may replace IPs.
Does Webshare support city targeting?
Yes, on rotating residential proxies, along with state, ZIP and ASN targeting.
Why does my proxy show the wrong city?
IP geolocation databases disagree. A proxy can be in the right city according to one database and a nearby city in another. Check with the same database your target uses where possible.
Can I target a US state with Webshare?
Yes. State targeting is available on rotating residential proxies.
Does geo-targeting cost extra?
Targeting doesn't change the per-GB price, but narrow targets can increase failures and retries, which raises real cost.
How do I get the right targeting username?
Use the endpoint generator in the Webshare dashboard to build it for your plan.
Editorial note: Proxy providers change their pools, features and prices often, so treat any figures here as typical ranges at the time of writing and confirm current terms with the provider before you buy.