Why You're Getting Banned: Proxies vs. VPNs for Media Buying in 2026

If you are reading this and still using a $5/month commercial VPN (like Nord or Express) to manage your Facebook BMs or Google Ads accounts, stop immediately. You are literally begging the algorithms to ban you.

I see this debate pop up weekly on r/adops and BHW. New buyers think they are "hiding their IP" by clicking a button on a desktop app. Let’s kill that myth right now. In 2026, the fraud detection systems on Tier 1 ad networks look at commercial VPNs as red flags the size of a building.

The VPN Death Trap

Why do VPNs fail? It comes down to IP sharing and "neighborhoods." When you connect to a commercial VPN node in Miami, you are sharing that exact IP address with thousands of other users simultaneously.

Guess what those other users are doing? Spamming, scraping, and running fraudulent activities. The IP becomes "dirty" almost instantly.

When Facebook sees you—a totally legit advertiser running a Nutra offer—log into a Business Manager from an IP address currently being used by 50 Russian spam bots, it doesn't care about your intentions. It flags the IP, flags your account, and bans you. Period.

The Proxy Requirement

To manage multiple ad accounts safely, you have to completely isolate each one. This is why you must pair an Anti-Detect Browser (like AdsPower or Multilogin) with dedicated Proxies.

A high-quality proxy gives your browser profile a unique, dedicated IP address. More importantly, it gives you control over the type of IP.

The Three Proxy Types for 2026 Media Buying:

1. Datacenter Proxies: The cheapest, but the easiest to detect. These IPs come from massive server farms (like AWS or DigitalOcean). Ad networks know these aren't real people sitting in living rooms. Verdict: Do not use for Tier 1 ad accounts.
2. Residential Proxies: These IPs belong to real home internet connections (like a Comcast or AT&T router in Texas). Because they look like average consumers, they have a massive trust score. Verdict: Excellent for farming and managing long-term accounts.
3. Mobile Proxies (4G/5G): The absolute gold standard right now. You are connecting through actual cell towers (Verizon, T-Mobile). Because thousands of real humans cycle through the same cell tower IPs dynamically every day, Meta cannot afford to ban them. If they ban a T-Mobile IP, they might accidentally ban 5,000 real iPhone users in Atlanta. Verdict: BHW's favorite. Expensive, but ban-bulletproof if setup correctly.

Stop playing the lottery with VPNs. Check the verified Proxy vendors on AdAccountsHub, spend the extra $40/month on clean mobile or residential IPs, and stop wondering why your accounts keep dying perfectly good deaths.