What Is Geo-Blocking?

So you’ve finally gotten a subscription on a streaming website. Except when you search for your favorite TV show, you can’t find it anywhere. What gives?

If you’ve run into a situation like this before, chances are you’ve already encountered geo-blocking. You may be wondering how to get around geo-blocking. That’s precisely what we’re here to help you with.

What is geo-blocking? Keep reading to learn, as well as how to remove geo-blocking using proxies!

Geo-Blocking 101

Before we learn how to bypass geo-blocking, it helps first to understand what it actually is. Once you know what geo-blocking is, you’ll better understand how to remove it. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is geo-blocking?

Geo-blocking is the restricting of internet content based on the user’s location. The types of restrictions depend on where you are in the world. Many types of content can be geo-blocked, including specific images, search terms, parts of online forums, products, or even entire websites.

Sometimes, geo-blocking isn’t about blocking content but modifying it based on location. For example, websites may restrict the currency they display for a product, the price of the product, and the range of products for sale, all depending on the user’s location.

How does geo-blocking work?

A crucial part of understanding what geo-blocking is and how to get around it is knowing how it works.

Simply put, a geo-blocking system uses your IP address to determine your location. The simplest of these is checking the user’s external IP address against a blocklist or a safelist to decide whether they are restricted from or allowed to access certain content, respectively.

The IP-checking geo-blocking method is possible as each IP address belongs to a database, which identifies it with a specific region in the world. Depending on the type of database, the IP address may be accurate up to a particular regional level. For example, certain internet service providers (ISPs) provide accuracy up to your street address, whereas smaller ISPs can only provide country-level accuracy.

Another method for geo-blocking is through measuring the end-to-end delay in a network connection. This method gives the physical location of the user through GPS-coordinate-based client location verification.

No matter what method is enforced for geo-blocking, the result is always the same: internet content is restricted, modified, or otherwise removed entirely, depending on the user’s location.

Is geo-blocking legal?

Given how geo-blocking restricts certain content, you might assume that it’s not legal. However, the unfortunate reality is that not only is geo-blocking completely legal, but it is also frequently enforced in most countries outside the United States.

Some companies are obligated by law to geo-block their products or services. For example, certain countries may have restrictions on images or search terms deemed inappropriate or offensive. At other times, local laws such as tax codes, restrictions on gambling, or a country’s legal system may change the availability of certain content and activities.

Countries like the EU have recently aimed to reduce legal geo-blocking through agreements such as the Digital Single Market strategy.

Geo-Blocking Use Cases

By now, you should have a basic idea of geo-blocking and how it works. Let’s now talk a little about some significant geo-blocking use cases.

Streaming services

Although popular streaming services and apps are available worldwide, each country has its own library. The difference between each country’s streaming library is due to geo-blocking. 

That’s because streaming services have specific licensing agreements that allow them to put up certain movies and TV shows for streaming only in certain countries but not in others. An example is the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, unavailable in some Asian countries due to geo-blocking.

Political censoring

Some countries may not allow certain things on the internet. For example, images, search terms, or other media deemed offensive, inappropriate, or dangerous can be blocked for security purposes. 

This content would work fine in countries outside the geo-blocked country but is impossible to access without explicitly knowing how to remove geo-blocking. Without a method for eliminating geo-blocking, residents of such countries are unable to access the censored content.

App features

Certain Social media platforms have created a popular feature that lets users listen to their favorite songs, soundtracks, and music on their profile. While fun, features like these are only available in certain countries worldwide. 

If you’re in a country that doesn’t support this type of feature and try to view the profile from another part of the world where the feature is available, you won’t be able to hear any sound. This restriction is just one example of how some apps can block their features in certain countries.

Online gambling

Online gambling has become a popular activity in recent years, ranging from slots, card games, and betting sites available online. However, some countries have strict limitations on gambling laws and do not allow any form of gambling within their borders. 

Therefore, these countries impose geo-blocking by law to prevent their users from gambling or similar betting activity.

How To Get Around Geo-blocking

Now that you’re caught up to speed on what geo-blocking is, it’s time to learn how to get around geo-blocking effectively.

There are multiple solutions when it comes to bypassing geo-blocking. These are known as circumventions.

Below are some common geo-blocking circumventions to remove geo-blocking.

Rotating residential IPs

Rotating residential IPs are IP addresses from foreign countries without geo-blocking restrictions. These addresses correspond to a physical IP address in the foreign country, hence “residential.”

Smart DNS

Smart Domain Name Server (DNS) helps to mask your IP address. This method works by rerouting any DNS requests you send through other countries without geo-blocking restrictions. Smart DNS only works with specific DNS settings enabled.

Final Thoughts

As long as you know what geo-blocking is, it’s relatively uncomplicated to work around it. You can use several methods, including rotating residential IPs, to help get around geo-blocking.

If you’re looking for a reliable rotating residential proxy provider, look no further than Rayobyte Rotating Residential Proxies.

When you sign up for Rayobyte Rotating Residential Proxies, you’ll be able to access any content of your choice worldwide without restrictions. 

With super fast 1 GBPS internet speeds, over 25 petabytes of data every month, and support for over 25 countries worldwide, Rayobyte provides you with the best tools for getting around geo-blocking. This list of countries includes the USA, UK, Canada, South Korea, Germany, and even the Netherlands, just to name a few.

Now, Rayobyte is available in several pricing packages depending on your personal needs.

So no matter where you reside in the world, head over to Rayobyte Proxies today and remove geo-blocking once and for all!

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