Baidu is China’s largest search engine and a goldmine of critical data for enterprises—from SERP rankings and competitor insights to Chinese consumer trends and regulatory updates. However, scraping Baidu is notoriously challenging due to its strict anti-scraping measures (IP bans, CAPTCHAs, dynamic content) and geo-restrictions that block non-Chinese IPs.
IPFLY’s premium proxy solutions (90M+ global IPs, including a dedicated Chinese IP pool, dynamic/static residential, and data center proxies) solve these pain points: real Chinese residential IPs mimic local users to avoid detection, dynamic rotation bypasses IP bans, and 99.9% uptime ensures consistent data extraction. This guide walks you through the entire Baidu scraping process—from choosing the right IPFLY proxy type to writing a robust scraper, bypassing anti-scraping tools, and extracting actionable Chinese market data.
Introduction to Baidu Scraping
For enterprises targeting the Chinese market, Baidu is irreplaceable. It holds 70%+ of China’s search market share, hosting billions of search queries, web pages, and user-generated content—data that fuels market research, competitor analysis, SEO strategy, and consumer behavior insights. But Baidu’s anti-scraping system is among the strictest globally:
It instantly bans non-Chinese IPs attempting to scrape SERP data.
Dynamic JavaScript rendering hides content from basic scrapers.
IP rate-limiting and CAPTCHAs block repeated requests from the same address.
Legal risks for non-compliant scraping (violates Baidu’s terms of service).
This is where IPFLY becomes indispensable. IPFLY’s proxy infrastructure is tailor-made for Baidu scraping: it offers a large pool of Chinese mainland residential IPs (critical for bypassing geo-restrictions), dynamic rotation to avoid bans, and compatibility with modern scraping tools. Whether you’re extracting SERP rankings, competitor keywords, or industry trends, IPFLY empowers you to scrape Baidu reliably and compliantly.
Why IPFLY Proxies Are Critical for Baidu Scraping
Baidu’s anti-scraping mechanisms are designed to block generic scrapers and non-local IPs—IPFLY addresses every key challenge with targeted features:
1.Dedicated Chinese IP Pool (Geo-Restriction Bypass)
Baidu blocks access to SERP data and core features for non-Chinese IPs. IPFLY offers millions of Chinese mainland residential and data center IPs (covering Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and 30+ provinces) to mimic local users. This ensures Baidu treats your requests as legitimate, not foreign scrapers.
2.Dynamic IP Rotation (Anti-Ban Protection)
Baidu tracks IP request frequency and bans addresses that send too many requests. IPFLY’s dynamic residential proxies rotate IPs per request or at set intervals, distributing traffic across its 90M+ global pool. For Baidu, this means no single IP is flagged for excessive scraping.
3.Real Residential IPs (CAPTCHA & Anti-Scraper Bypass)
Baidu’s AI-driven anti-scraping system detects data center IPs and generic proxies, triggering CAPTCHAs or bans. IPFLY’s residential proxies are assigned by Chinese ISPs (e.g., China Telecom, China Unicom), mimicking real user devices. This drastically reduces CAPTCHA triggers and ensures high success rates.
4.High-Speed & Stable Connections
Baidu’s servers prioritize local network connections. IPFLY’s Chinese IPs are hosted on dedicated servers with low latency (≤50ms in major Chinese cities), ensuring fast data extraction even for large-scale scraping (e.g., 10k+ SERP queries).
5.Compliance & Reliability
IPFLY’s proxies adhere to Chinese internet regulations and Baidu’s terms of service. Multi-layer IP filtering eliminates blacklisted addresses, and 99.9% uptime ensures uninterrupted scraping for enterprise workflows (e.g., daily SERP monitoring).
Prerequisites for Scraping Baidu
Before starting, ensure you have:
An IPFLY account (with access to Chinese residential proxies; sign up for a trial here).
Python 3.10+ (for writing the scraper).
Scraping tools/libraries: requests (for HTTP requests), BeautifulSoup4 (for parsing HTML), selenium (for dynamic content), python-dotenv (for secure credential storage).
Basic knowledge of HTML/CSS selectors (to extract Baidu SERP elements).
Install required dependencies:
pip install requests beautifulsoup4 selenium python-dotenv webdriver-managerIPFLY Proxy Preparation
1.Log into your IPFLY account and navigate to the “Proxy Manager.”
2.Select dynamic residential proxies (best for Baidu) and filter by “China” to access the Chinese IP pool.
3.Retrieve your proxy endpoint (e.g., http://[USERNAME]:[PASSWORD]@proxy.ipfly.com:8080), username, and password.
4.Test the proxy connection to ensure it’s routed through a Chinese IP (use http://ip-api.com/json to verify location).
Step-by-Step Guide: Scrape Baidu with IPFLY Proxies
We’ll build a scraper that extracts Baidu SERP data (organic rankings, titles, snippets, URLs) for target keywords—using IPFLY’s Chinese residential proxies to bypass anti-scraping measures.
Step 1: Configure IPFLY Proxies & Environment Variables
1.Create a .env file to store your IPFLY credentials securely:
IPFLY_PROXY_ENDPOINT=http://[USERNAME]:[PASSWORD]@proxy.ipfly.com:8080
BAIDU_SEARCH_URL=https://www.baidu.com/s2.Load the environment variables in your Python script:
import os
import requests
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.options import Options
load_dotenv()
proxy_endpoint = os.getenv("IPFLY_PROXY_ENDPOINT")
baidu_url = os.getenv("BAIDU_SEARCH_URL")Step 2: Choose the Right Scraping Approach (Static vs. Dynamic)
Baidu uses dynamic JavaScript to render SERP content—choose the approach based on your needs:
Static Scraping: Fast, for basic SERP data (works with requests + IPFLY proxies).
Dynamic Scraping: For JavaScript-heavy content (e.g., infinite scroll, interactive snippets), use selenium + IPFLY proxies.
We’ll cover both methods below.
Step 3: Static Scraping with Requests + IPFLY (Basic SERP Data)
This method is ideal for extracting top 10 organic SERP results quickly.
defscrape_baidu_static(keyword: str) -> list:"""Scrape Baidu SERP with IPFLY proxies (static content)."""# Configure proxies for requests
proxies = {"http": proxy_endpoint,"https": proxy_endpoint
}# Baidu search parameters (q = keyword, rn = number of results)
params = {"q": keyword,"rn": 10, # Extract top 10 results"tn": "baiduhome_pg" # Standard search template}# Headers to mimic a Chinese browser (critical for bypassing detection)
headers = {"User-Agent": "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36","Accept-Language": "zh-CN,zh;q=0.9", # Chinese language"Referer": "https://www.baidu.com/"}try:# Send request via IPFLY proxy
response = requests.get(
baidu_url,
params=params,
proxies=proxies,
headers=headers,
timeout=30)
response.raise_for_status() # Trigger error for HTTP issues
response.encoding = "utf-8" # Handle Chinese characters# Parse SERP data with BeautifulSoup
soup = BeautifulSoup(response.text, "html.parser")
serp_results = []# Extract organic results (adjust selectors if Baidu updates its HTML)for result in soup.find_all("div", class_="result-op c-container xpath-log new-pmd")[:10]:
title_elem = result.find("h3", class_="t")
url_elem = title_elem.find("a") if title_elem elseNone
snippet_elem = result.find("div", class_="c-abstract")if title_elem and url_elem and snippet_elem:
serp_results.append({"keyword": keyword,"title": title_elem.get_text(strip=True),"url": url_elem["href"],"snippet": snippet_elem.get_text(strip=True),"proxy_used": "IPFLY Chinese residential"})return serp_results
except Exception as e:print(f"Static scraping failed: {str(e)}")return []# Test with a keyword (e.g., "2025中国 SaaS 趋势")
static_results = scrape_baidu_static("2025中国 SaaS 趋势")print(f"Extracted {len(static_results)} static SERP results:")for res in static_results:print(f"- Title: {res['title']}\n URL: {res['url']}\n")Step 4: Dynamic Scraping with Selenium + IPFLY (JavaScript Content)
Use this method for scraping dynamic content (e.g., Baidu Zhidao answers, infinite scroll results).
defscrape_baidu_dynamic(keyword: str) -> list:"""Scrape Baidu SERP with IPFLY proxies (dynamic JavaScript content)."""# Configure Chrome options with IPFLY proxy
chrome_options = Options()
chrome_options.add_argument(f'--proxy-server={proxy_endpoint.replace("http://", "")}')
chrome_options.add_argument("--headless=new") # Run in headless mode (faster)
chrome_options.add_argument("--no-sandbox")
chrome_options.add_argument("--disable-dev-shm-usage")# Mimic Chinese browser headers
chrome_options.add_argument("user-agent=Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/120.0.0.0 Safari/537.36")
chrome_options.add_experimental_option("prefs", {"intl.accept_languages": "zh-CN,zh"})# Initialize WebDriver
driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=chrome_options)
serp_results = []try:# Build Baidu search URL
search_url = f"{baidu_url}?q={keyword}&rn=10"
driver.get(search_url)
driver.implicitly_wait(10) # Wait for dynamic content to load# Parse dynamic SERP results
results = driver.find_elements(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "div.result-op.c-container.xpath-log.new-pmd")for result in results[:10]:try:
title = result.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "h3.t").text
url = result.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "h3.t a").get_attribute("href")
snippet = result.find_element(By.CSS_SELECTOR, "div.c-abstract").text
serp_results.append({"keyword": keyword,"title": title,"url": url,"snippet": snippet,"proxy_used": "IPFLY Chinese residential (dynamic)"})except Exception as e:continueexcept Exception as e:print(f"Dynamic scraping failed: {str(e)}")finally:
driver.quit()return serp_results
# Test dynamic scraping
dynamic_results = scrape_baidu_dynamic("2025中国 SaaS 趋势")print(f"Extracted {len(dynamic_results)} dynamic SERP results:")for res in dynamic_results:print(f"- Title: {res['title']}\n URL: {res['url']}\n")Step 5: Test & Optimize the Scraper
1.Run the script and verify results: Ensure SERP data is extracted correctly and no IP bans occur.
2.Check IPFLY’s dashboard: Monitor proxy success rates and rotate IPs if you encounter CAPTCHAs.
3.Adjust request frequency: Add a 2–5 second delay between requests to avoid rate-limiting (use time.sleep()).
Baidu Anti-Scraping Measures & IPFLY’s Solutions
Baidu’s anti-scraping system is constantly evolving—here’s how to bypass its most common barriers with IPFLY:
| Anti-Scraping Measure | Challenge | IPFLY Solution |
| Geo-Restriction | Non-Chinese IPs are blocked from SERP data. | Use IPFLY’s dedicated Chinese residential IP pool (covers 30+ provinces). |
| IP Ban | Repeated requests from the same IP trigger bans. | Enable dynamic IP rotation (rotate per request or 30 seconds) via IPFLY’s proxy manager. |
| CAPTCHA Trigger | Data center IPs or unusual behavior trigger CAPTCHAs. | Use IPFLY’s real residential IPs (assigned by Chinese ISPs) to mimic local users. |
| Dynamic JavaScript | Basic scrapers can’t access JS-rendered content. | Pair IPFLY proxies with Selenium/Playwright for dynamic rendering—IPFLY’s low-latency IPs ensure smooth browser automation. |
| User-Agent Detection | Non-Chinese User-Agents are flagged. | Use Chinese browser User-Agents (as in the script) + IPFLY’s local IPs to appear legitimate. |
| Rate Limiting | Too many requests in a short time are blocked. | Use IPFLY’s unlimited concurrency to distribute requests across multiple IPs; add delays between requests. |
Best Practices for Baidu Scraping with IPFLY
1.Choose the Right IPFLY Proxy Type:
- For regular SERP scraping: Dynamic residential proxies (best anti-ban protection).
- For long-term, stable scraping (e.g., daily keyword monitoring): Static residential proxies (permanent Chinese IPs).
- For high-volume scraping (e.g., 100k+ keywords): Data center proxies (fast, cost-effective for large-scale tasks).
2.Respect Baidu’s Robots.txt: Avoid scraping restricted paths (e.g., /login, /account) to stay compliant.
3.Handle Chinese Characters Properly: Use utf-8 encoding in your scraper to avoid garbled text (as in the script).
4.Monitor Proxy Performance: Use IPFLY’s dashboard to track success rates, IP rotation, and regional performance (e.g., Shanghai IPs may work better for East China keywords).
5.Avoid Over-Scraping: Limit requests to 1–2 per second per IP to mimic human behavior. IPFLY’s large IP pool lets you scale without triggering rate limits.
6.Use IPFLY’s 24/7 Support: If you encounter persistent bans or CAPTCHAs, IPFLY’s technical team can help optimize proxy settings for Baidu.
Enterprise Use Cases for Baidu Scraping (Powered by IPFLY)
1.Chinese Market Research
Scrape Baidu SERP for industry trends (e.g., “2025 中国新能源汽车趋势”) to identify consumer demand.
Use IPFLY’s Chinese IPs to access region-specific data (e.g., Beijing vs. Guangzhou consumer preferences).
2.Competitor SEO Analysis
Extract competitor keyword rankings, backlinks, and ad copy from Baidu SERP.
Monitor competitor’s Baidu Zhidao (Q&A) and Baidu Tieba (forum) presence to identify content gaps.
3.Brand Monitoring
Track brand mentions, reviews, and sentiment across Baidu search results, Tieba, and Zhidao.
Use IPFLY’s dynamic proxies to scrape in real time and respond to negative feedback quickly.
4.Regulatory Compliance
Scrape Chinese government portals (indexed by Baidu) for industry regulations and policy updates.
IPFLY’s static residential proxies ensure consistent access to trusted regulatory sites.
Scraping Baidu is essential for enterprises targeting China’s massive market—but its strict anti-scraping measures and geo-restrictions make it a challenge. IPFLY’s proxies solve these barriers with dedicated Chinese IPs, dynamic rotation, and real residential addresses that mimic local users.
By following this guide, you can:
Extract Baidu SERP data, competitor insights, and market trends reliably.
Bypass IP bans, CAPTCHAs, and geo-restrictions with IPFLY’s tailored proxy solutions.
Scale scraping for enterprise needs without compromising compliance or speed.
Whether you’re new to Baidu scraping or looking to optimize existing workflows, IPFLY’s proxies provide the stability, speed, and anti-ban protection you need to unlock China’s most valuable data source.
Ready to start scraping Baidu? Sign up for IPFLY’s free trial, configure your Chinese proxies, and use the scripts in this guide to extract actionable insights for your business.
