Your internet protocol (IP) address is a means of identifying you. It is your home address but on the internet and is often how you can be found.
IPs are important to make you unique online; they help you stand out from other internet users and help you connect to websites and platforms.
It would be impossible to be out on the internet without this unique set of numbers. Secondly, a server would not know how and where to send communications results without each person having an identifiable address.
Unfortunately, this level of importance also makes them some of the most sought-commodity on the internet. This even becomes a bigger challenge considering how limited IPv4 is.
When the world was operating with the IP version 4 systems in the mid-1980s, no one predicted that a day would come when there would not be enough IPs.
But by the late 1990s, after IPv4 had produced 4.3 billion IPs, and by 2016 it was obvious it had come to an end and couldn’t make IPs anymore.
The world was left with no new IPs yet increasing demand for these unique addresses. IPv6 was introduced recently, but adoption has been quite slow.
More or less, we still have the same amount of IPs demanded by more people every day, making them very expensive items.
What Is IP Buying?
IP buying refers to purchasing private IPs to use them alone without sharing them with anyone else on the internet.
If you buy IPs, whether by using an IPv4 proxy, for your business, those IPs become yours exclusively until you decide to drop them by reselling them. Navigate here for more details.
IPs can be bought from an internet service provider (ISP) or third-party companies depending on whether you are using Residential or Datacenter proxies, respectively.
What IS IP Leasing?
The alternative to IP buying is IP leasing. It is a system of paying money to be allocated IP addresses that you can use for a speculated period.
This is similar to how leasing works in real life; while you have the right to use the property at the moment, you know it does not belong to you or your business.
Benefits of Buying IP
Even without telling, anyone can see benefits to buying and owning IP. Described below are some of the most obvious benefits:
- Bought IPs give you the freedom to use your IPs as you choose and for whatever purpose you want
- Bought IPs can also be easily customized to function in a certain way or accomplish specific tasks
- Using your private IPs is far more secure and keeps your data and sensitive detail well protected
- Buying an IP eliminates the “neighbor effect”, where the risks posed by another person who has recently used that IP rubs off on your brand.
Difficulties of Buying IP
Even with the benefits mentioned above, buying an IP is still a major challenge and poses some difficulties, including the following:
- It is expensive. As mentioned above, there is a severe shortage of IPs with a complimenting growing demand, and this makes them very expensive to purchase
- Buying an IP entails going up against major corporations like ISPs, IP transition providers, and larger organizations. It would cost a fortune to outbid them for the remaining 4% of IPs in the market.
- Buying your IP also comes with the problems of maintaining and safeguarding them at all times.
- Once you buy an IP, ending the contract abruptly usually results in severe consequences. Selling them requires looking for a buyer willing to pay enough to cover your investment.
Benefits of Leasing IP
There are also several benefits to leasing an IP instead of buying one.
- Leasing is far less expensive and easily affordable for smaller brands and companies.
- Leasing doesn’t put you in direct competition with the major players and helps you get the needed IP much faster.
- Breaking a leasing contract attracts no major consequences, and you can let go whenever you want
- A leasing investment is easier, and you don’t have to look for buyers for your IP. Notifying the leasing company of your decision is enough to get you moving on.
Difficulties of Leasing IP
But leasing an IP, as simple as it sounds, still comes with its unique set of difficulties, as explained below:
- It is often less secure and private than having your IP addresses
- You may not be able to use the IPs as quickly as you want as it often requires authorization by a third- party.
- The above difficulty could affect the overall speed of doing tasks online
IPv4 and the Cost May Influence Which Choice to Make
The IPv4 proxy influences a large chunk of what is happening in the IP market. Most of the world is using IPs supplied by IPv4, and because this technology can no longer make new addresses, the increasing demand for the current IPs has caused the cost of owning a proxy to skyrocket.
IPs have become very scarce, and businesses need to compete fiercely if they intend to buy them.
As of 2019, an IP costs about $35, and this price has continued to increase. There is hope that the new IPv6 system will make things easier, but its adoption has been slow, and the high cost remains unstopped.
Conclusion
Every business needs IP addresses to run successfully and stay protected while running important activities like web scraping anonymously.
Because of the cost of buying one, most companies now opt for the easier option of IP leasing. But the choice your brand should make should depend on what your number one priority is – having a private IP or simply having security online, as well as how much you are willing to pay in the long run.
