1. To unblock websites
One of the commonest reasons for using a proxyserver is for people to to hide their IP address with a view to accessing content that is blocked in their region. As mentioned above, IP addresses can be used to identify the geographic location a user is accessing the internet from. When governments or web services enforce geo-restrictions, they look at the IP address of all incoming requests to determine which part of the world the request is coming from. If the request comes from an area where the service is not provided then access is not granted to that request. If you use a webproxy however, the IP address visible to others will be that of the proxy, and you can unblock websites easily (assuming of course that the unblock proxy you are using is not based in the same banned region as you are). Some proxy lists also state the actual geographical location of the servers so users can select a US proxy or a UK proxy, for example, depending on their requirements. As using a proxy bypass, however, is such a quick and easy process, it is normally no trouble to use simple ‘trial and error’ to find one that will unblock the sites you want to visit without knowing the actual physical location of the ones you are testing.