The interactions between digital devices on the internet follow a complex set of rules that can be overwhelming, even for tech-savvy users. A modern web surfer understands the benefits and how to use the most valuable tools and resources but lacks the knowledge of how the information is presented as well as the impact of a unique network identity – an IP address.
IP addresses assigned by internet service providers make every device distinguishable in establishing connections with servers and other devices. What seems like a unique string of numbers, carries a lot more information than the average user realizes.
In this article, we will focus on the information attached to your digital identity and how it affects connections on the web. For example, we can observe these differences by observing how Google localizes its result and the presented language based on a user’s IP address. The information contained in your IP and HTTP address personalizes connections to recipient servers. Localization combines personal data to present information in an understandable format. Owners of the most popular websites on the web create different iterations of their pages to make them easy to use. We will also talk about the ways you can change your IP address and explore the web as a different visitor from a different region in the country. For example, if you want to see the web as an internet user from South America, you can use a Brazil proxy to browse websites and search engines as a local user. You will also have access to websites that are blocked for web surfers with restricted IPs. Brazil proxy will act as an intermediary station for transmitted information, and it will obtain a different identity while traveling through the server. You can get a Brazil proxy or IP addresses from other regions and check the deals of the best, legitimate proxy providers. For now, let’s take a closer look at localization and what can change when connecting to the web with a different IP address.
Website localization benefits
Every web server owner that receives a lot of traffic must consider two adjustments — balance the load to prevent server overload and localize the website for visitors from other regions.
With localization, websites have different versions and supply the most appropriate page based on the information in an IP address. These adjustments make the browsing experience far more convenient, and presented content encourages the user to stay and explore it, maybe take an interest in offered products and services.
The biggest tech companies may need hundreds of servers to sustain their website. For example, search engines like Google have absurd amounts of connection requests because most internet users utilize the platform to connect to other parts of the internet. Google uses aggressive localization to display information in your native language, even in the smallest countries. To make the search as convenient as possible, the ranking of search results can also shift depending on your location because a local user is far more likely to choose a local website, especially when looking for products and services on the web.
Access the web with a different IP address
When accessing the web with another IP address, changes might be unnoticeable if you are using the search engine in the same country. However, for larger countries like the U.S, the experience can be drastically different depending on your state and the most search results in your location.
While you remain the same person, IP addresses in different locations act as unique access points to the web, offering a different experience. For example, if you use a Google search engine in a different part of the world, top results can change dramatically, and some pages may not appear at all if they are rarely visited in the region. Some web servers may not be accessible if a local government or a server owner forbids access to these pages.
Maintain a personalized browsing experience
While personalization may feel like an invasion of privacy to some, by tracking segments of private information like user agents, tech companies manage to consistently provide recommendations in search engines and websites despite localization.
A great way to negate the effects of an IP address change is to access the web or use a search engine only when you are connected to your Google account. Web browsers like Google Chrome also allow you to create a link between your account and the history of your browsing on the web. By syncing your browsing experience with social media networks, you will reduce the effects of localization, but some changes will remain — a search engine will maintain segments of your personalized experience, but presented ads will change, and some websites might no longer be accessible.
Ensuring a similar browsing experience becomes near impossible if you visit an authoritarian country or connect to their local IP through a proxy server. In countries like China, you would see that a significant portion of the modern, western internet we love today is unavailable, while our counterparts are replaced with local substitutes.
The internet is the most important, ever-growing creation of information technologies. Through localization, the most popular websites manage to adapt and automatically localize content by analyzing visitors’ IP addresses. With continuous expansion, tech giants will ensure that the outreach of the most powerful digital tools will manage to affect and assist people even in the most remote areas of the world. With localization, sceptical users can start using the web and become a part of marvellous interconnectivity.
