You purchased a proxy with the desired geolocation, but Facebook Ads identifies a different country, while Wildberries sees you as a user from a neighboring region. This is a familiar situation for arbitrage specialists, SMM experts, and marketplace sellers. The problem is not with the proxy provider — it lies in the fact that different services use different GeoIP databases, and they cannot physically match 100%.
What is a GeoIP Database and Why Do Websites Need It
When you visit any website through a proxy, the server only sees your IP address. To understand which country and city the request came from, the website refers to a GeoIP database — a special table of correspondence "IP address range → country/city/provider". There are dozens of these databases, and each major company uses its own.
The most well-known databases include: MaxMind GeoIP2, IP2Location, DB-IP, as well as proprietary databases from Google, Cloudflare, Facebook, and Yandex. Facebook Ads, for example, does not use public MaxMind databases directly — the company has an internal location determination system that relies not only on IP but also on profile data, login history, browser language, and even signals from GPS mobile devices if the user has ever logged in through the app.
This is why the same IP address can show Germany on one checker site, the USA on another, and not be identified at all on a third. They all simply look at different tables, which are updated with varying frequency and based on different data sources: registration data from RIPE/ARIN/APNIC, data from telecom operators, signals from CDNs, and so on.
Why Databases Differ: 5 Reasons
The discrepancy in determining the country is not a bug of a specific proxy, but a systemic feature of how the internet is structured. Let's break down the main reasons.
1. Different Update Speeds of Databases. IP addresses are constantly resold, transferred from one provider to another, and change their country affiliation. MaxMind updates its database every few days, IP2Location according to its own schedule, while Facebook and Google's internal databases can update almost in real-time based on behavioral analysis. As a result, the same block of addresses may still be listed under the old country in one database but already under the new one in another.
2. Regional Registrars (RIR) Provide Inaccurate Data. Official registries like RIPE, ARIN, APNIC, LACNIC, and AFRINIC indicate the country of registration of the IP address block owner, not the country of actual use. A data center may be registered in the Netherlands but physically serve traffic for users from Germany or even redirect it through several nodes.
3. Mobile and Residential IPs Constantly Change Owners. Mobile operators use the CGNAT mechanism — thousands of subscribers share the same external IP, and this pool of addresses can "travel" between regions within the country depending on network load. GeoIP databases simply cannot keep track of these changes with city-level accuracy.
4. BGP Announcements and Traffic Routing. An IP address may belong to a provider from one country but is actually routed through a data center in another. Some GeoIP databases determine the country based on the BGP announcement point, while others rely on the legal address of the block owner, and this data rarely matches perfectly.
5. Proprietary Heuristics of Major Platforms. Facebook, Google, and TikTok do not solely trust GeoIP — they cross-check IP geolocation with the system language, browser time zone, SIM card data (for mobile apps), and account activity history. If even one parameter does not match the expected country, the platform may display a warning about suspicious login or even restrict the account, even if the proxy is technically "clean."
How to Check the Real Geolocation of a Proxy
Before panicking, it is worth checking the IP in at least 3-4 independent sources — this way you will get an objective picture, not just the opinion of one database.
Step 1. Open the services ipinfo.io, whatismyipaddress.com, iplocation.net, and ip-api.com. Enter the IP address of your proxy there and compare the results from each service — pay attention not only to the country but also to the "organization/provider" field.
Step 2. Check the ASN (Autonomous System Number) of this IP through bgp.he.net. This will show which operator physically owns the range of addresses and in which country it is officially registered.
Step 3. If you plan to use the proxy in an anti-detect browser — Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, Multilogin, GoLogin, or Octo Browser — use the built-in IP check within the browser itself. These services often show several databases simultaneously and warn if the country based on the browser's time zone does not match the country of the IP.
Step 4. Check the alignment of the time zone and system language with the country of the IP address. If the proxy shows Germany, but the system is set to Moscow time and Russian locale — this, rather than the proxy itself, is often the reason for account blocking on platforms like Facebook Ads.
It is important to understand:
If 3 out of 4 checked services show the same country, and one shows another, then the proxy is likely determined correctly, and the discrepancy is a feature of that particular database. There is no need to panic and change the proxy in this case.
Real Cases: Facebook Ads, TikTok, Wildberries
Facebook Ads. Arbitrage specialists often encounter situations where the proxy is purchased for the USA, but the Facebook ad account asks to verify identity or shows a warning about "unusual login." The reason is that Facebook checks not only the IP but also the history of previous logins to the account, device fingerprint, and behavioral patterns. If the account previously logged in from another country, even a GeoIP-correct proxy can raise suspicion.
TikTok Ads. TikTok is particularly sensitive to mobile IPs with unstable geolocation. Due to CGNAT, the same mobile proxy can "move" between neighboring regions of the same country in the eyes of GeoIP databases throughout the day. For advertising campaigns targeting a specific city, this creates a risk — the ad may be shown to an audience other than the one the advertiser intended.
Wildberries and Ozon. For marketplace sellers, the specific region within the country is often more important than the country itself — prices and search results on Wildberries differ by city. If the GeoIP database inaccurately determines the IP by 200-300 km, monitoring competitor prices may show incorrect data for the desired region, and decisions regarding purchases or price undercutting will be based on a distorted picture.
Which Type of Proxy Gives Fewer Geolocation Errors
Different types of proxies provide varying accuracy in determining the country and region. This should be considered when choosing for a specific task.
| Type of Proxy | GeoIP Accuracy | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Residential Proxies | High, tied to real home IPs | Account farming, SMM, targeted advertising |
| Mobile Proxies | Medium, country accurate, city may "float" | TikTok Ads, Instagram, bypassing mobile detectors |
| Data Center Proxies | Tied to the ASN of the data center, country is often accurate | Price parsing, monitoring, tasks without strict verification |
Residential proxies usually yield the least discrepancies because their IP ranges belong to real internet providers and have long been registered in national registries with specific country and region indications. Data center proxies sometimes "confuse" databases because one data center can serve traffic for several countries simultaneously, while mobile proxies do so due to the CGNAT mechanism described above.
What to Do If the Country Is Determined Incorrectly
If after checking in several services you are convinced that the proxy indeed shows the wrong country, here is the course of action.
1. Change the specific IP within the pool. Most providers offer rotation — try to get a new address within the same plan. Sometimes the problem concerns one specific range, not the proxy network as a whole.
2. Ask the provider which database was used to check geolocation at the time of sale. Honest providers indicate which GeoIP database they guarantee the country based on — usually, this is MaxMind. If the site you are interested in uses a different database, discrepancies may occur even with a properly configured proxy.
3. Check the synchronization of the time zone, browser language, and system locale with the country of the IP. This often resolves the issue more effectively than changing the proxy itself — many platforms rely on a combination of signals, not just the IP.
4. For tasks with strict geolocation requirements, choose residential proxies tied to a specific city, rather than just to the country. Providers that offer city-level targeting usually verify their IP pools more thoroughly before sale.
Setting Up Geolocation in Anti-Detect Browsers
If you are working with multi-accounting through Dolphin Anty, AdsPower, Multilogin, or GoLogin — it is important to synchronize not only the IP but also all accompanying profile parameters.
In Dolphin Anty, when creating a profile, there is an automatic adjustment feature for the time zone and browser geolocation to the proxy IP — be sure to enable it in the profile settings, under "Proxy" → "Auto-detect Time Zone." This resolves a large portion of conflicts between the platform's GeoIP database and the browser environment parameters.
In AdsPower, a similar option is called "Timezone auto-fill based on IP" — it automatically pulls the time zone when entering proxy data into the profile. In GoLogin and Multilogin, check the profile settings section "Geolocation" — you can also manually enter coordinates corresponding to the desired city if the automatic detection worked incorrectly.
Before launching a campaign, always check the profile through the built-in checker of the anti-detect browser — it will show whether the IP, time zone, system language, and WebRTC data match. If even one parameter "deviates" from the overall picture, this, rather than the proxy, may be the reason for the account ban.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Discrepancies in determining the country by IP are a normal feature of the operation of different GeoIP databases, not always a sign of a bad proxy. To avoid wasting time and budget, check geolocation in at least 3-4 independent services, verify ASN through bgp.he.net, and be sure to synchronize the time zone and system language with the country of the proxy in the anti-detect browser.
If accuracy of geolocation is critical for your task — for example, for account farming in Facebook Ads, targeting in TikTok, or price monitoring in a specific region — it is worth choosing a provider with transparent verification of IP pools. For most scenarios requiring maximum stability of geodata, residential proxies are suitable, as their IP addresses are tied to real providers and have long been registered in national databases. If the task is related to mobile applications and targeting through the cellular network, pay attention to mobile proxies — they better mimic the behavior of a real smartphone user, despite some inaccuracies in city determination.