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. --- ## 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. --- ## 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. --- ## Input Parameters The actor accepts the following input configuration: ### Input Schema json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" } ], "useProxy": true, "proxyCountryCode": "US", "enableCrawling": false, "crawlingLinkSelector": "a", "blockUrlPatterns": [], "waitOnPage": 60, "endAfterSeconds": 600 } ### 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. --- ## 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. --- ## Example Usage ### Generate Views for YouTube Videos To generate views for a YouTube video, use the following input: json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw" } ], "useProxy": true, "proxyCountryCode": "US", "waitOnPage": 120, "endAfterSeconds": 1200 } 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: json { "startUrls": [ { "url": "https://www.example.com" } ], "useProxy": false, "waitOnPage": 60, "endAfterSeconds": 300 } This configuration simulates traffic directly without proxies. --- ## 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. --- ## 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. --- ## 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.