Traffic Generator Actor

The Traffic Generator Actor is a powerful tool designed to simulate user traffic on target URLs, including YouTube videos. By opening the specified URLs in a browser, it mimics user behavior to generate page views, helping enhance visibility, test website stability, and measure site performance.

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Features

• Simulated Page Views: Generate realistic visits to your target URLs.
• Optional Proxy Support: Use residential proxies to evade detection and mimic traffic from different geographic regions. Note: Residential proxies can be costly.
• Crawling Capability: Optionally crawl subpages of the target URLs to extend traffic generation.
• Resource Blocking: Optimize performance by blocking unnecessary resources such as images and scripts.

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How It Works

1. The actor navigates to the provided URLs using a browser.
2. It waits on the page for a specified duration (default: 60 seconds).
3. If crawling is enabled, the actor identifies and visits links within the page based on a CSS selector.
4. When using residential proxies, the traffic can evade detection, appearing more legitimate to the target site.

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Input Parameters

The actor accepts the following input configuration:

Input Schema

1{
2    "startUrls": [
3        {
4            "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
5        }
6    ],
7    "useProxy": true,
8    "proxyCountryCode": "US",
9    "enableCrawling": false,
10    "crawlingLinkSelector": "a",
11    "blockUrlPatterns": [],
12    "waitOnPage": 60,
13    "endAfterSeconds": 600
14}

Parameters Explained

• startUrls (Required): List of URLs to simulate traffic on.
• useProxy (Optional, Default: true): Enable or disable the use of residential proxies. If false, requests will use a direct connection.
• proxyCountryCode (Optional, Default: "US"): Two-letter country code for proxy usage. Ignored if useProxy is false.
• enableCrawling (Optional, Default: false): Set to true to enable crawling of links on the target page.
• crawlingLinkSelector (Optional, Default: "a"): CSS selector to identify links for crawling. Only used if enableCrawling is enabled.
• blockUrlPatterns (Optional, Default: []): Array of URL patterns to block during traffic generation (e.g., [".jpg", ".css"]).
• waitOnPage (Optional, Default: 60): Time in seconds to stay on each page.
• endAfterSeconds (Optional, Default: 600): Maximum time in seconds for the actor to run before stopping.

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Notes on Proxies

• Residential Proxies: If useProxy is enabled, the actor uses residential proxies, which are harder to detect and block, providing more realistic traffic simulation. However, they can incur higher costs.
• Direct Connection: If useProxy is disabled, the actor uses a direct connection, which is free but easier to detect and block.

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Example Usage

Generate Views for YouTube Videos

To generate views for a YouTube video, use the following input:

1{
2    "startUrls": [
3        {
4            "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw"
5        }
6    ],
7    "useProxy": true,
8    "proxyCountryCode": "US",
9    "waitOnPage": 120,
10    "endAfterSeconds": 1200
11}

This configuration:

• Generates views for the specified YouTube video.
• Simulates 10 views by waiting 120 seconds per view and running for 1200 seconds.

Generate Traffic Without Proxies

To generate traffic without using residential proxies:

1{
2    "startUrls": [
3        {
4            "url": "https://www.example.com"
5        }
6    ],
7    "useProxy": false,
8    "waitOnPage": 60,
9    "endAfterSeconds": 300
10}

This configuration simulates traffic directly without proxies.

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Running the Actor

On Apify Platform

1. Deploy the actor to Apify.
2. Configure the input as described above.
3. Start the actor and monitor its progress via the logs.

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Output

The actor logs detailed messages about:

• Navigation to each URL.
• Time spent on the page.
• Crawling activity (if enabled).
• Proxy configuration used (if applicable).

Monitor the effectiveness of the traffic generation directly through your analytics dashboard or tracking tools.

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Important Notes

• Proxy Costs: Using residential proxies significantly improves the quality of traffic but comes with higher costs. Plan usage accordingly.
• Actor Timeout: Ensure the endAfterSeconds parameter is set appropriately to control the actor's runtime and cost.