Unblock Blocked Sites

Why are sites blocked? Certain countries (China, Saudi Arabia, and more) block anything to do with popular culture, sexual issues, women's resources, or politics. In addition, both large and small companies block sites to cut down on security breaches and boost productivity. However, sometimes you need to get somewhere on the Web. The following methods can help you get around common roadblocks.

NOTE: Violation of most terms of use by corporations can be grounds for immediate termination; in addition, universities and schools have rules that prohibit non-educational use of the Web. Use these methods at your own risk.

1. Use an IP address instead of typing in the domain name
Instead of typing in a specific domain name, try typing in the IP address instead. An IP address is the signature address/number of your computer as it is connected to the Internet. You can find the IP address of any site by using IP address tools such as Netcraft, or Whois Domain Tools.

2. Use the mobile Web
You can sometimes access the mobile version of the site that has been blocked. Use the mobile web on your phone OR computer (sites will look different that what you're used to on your computer, but you'll be able to see them). Try these resources to find the mobile Web addresses you might be looking for:

Mobile Shopping Sites
Mobile Search Engines


3. USe Google Cache to find an older version of a site
Google's cache, the way the Web page looked when Google’s spiders indexed it, is a great way to see a site that has been blocked (if you don't mind looking at an older version of the site). Simply navigate to Google's home page and use this command:
cache:www.websearch.about.com

This will show you this site (or any site you want) as it looked when Google last looked at it.

4. Use an anonymous web proxy
An anonymous Web proxy hides your identity from the sites that you visit on the Web. When you use a Web proxy to visit a blocked site, your IP address (see item number one on this list) is basically hidden, and the anonymous Web proxy substitutes its own IP address for your own. This means that if you live in a country that restricts certain sites, you will be able to visit them with an anonymous Web proxy's substitute IP address, since it will tell the powers that be that you are actually in another country (and no longer subject to their policies). Most free Web proxies will also encode the URLs that you visit, making your search history virtually untraceable.
Examples of anonymous Web proxies: Hide My Ass!, Anonymouse, Proxify.

5. Use a translation service
Most large sites have more than one language version of their content. You can find them simply by searching in your favorite search engine, for example, Google, by using this search string: "myspace france" or "wikipedia spain". Once you have found these sites, you can use a translation tool to translate the content on the page to your language, thereby bypassing the blocked site restriction and getting to where you need to go.
6. Use an anonymous HTTP proxy
An anonymous HTTP proxy is similar to an anonymous Web proxy (mentioned in this list): it's an actual server that acts as a go-between between the searcher and the site that they are trying to access.
Basically, when you use an anonymous proxy and enter in the URL that you'd like to visit anonymously, the anonymous proxy retrieves the pages BEFORE they are delivered to you. This way, the IP address and other browsing information that the remote server sees does not belong to you - it belongs to the anonymous proxy.

There are many public access anonymous proxy servers on the Web that can be used by anyone who needs to unblock blocked sites:

Proxy List
SAS Proxy List Pages
Proxy SC
Free Web Proxies
7. Use a URL redirect or shortening tool
There are many URL shortening tools on the Web that will take a long URL and shorten it to something that's easier to copy and paste. Sometimes, these shortened URLs can be used as a substitute for the actual URL of the site that you're trying to access.
For instance, if you use TinyURL to shorten the URL of websearch.about.com, you would get this link: http://tinyurl.com/70we, which you could use to access this site (if it was blocked) rather than the actual URL, which is http://websearch.about.com.

8. Try an RSS reader
You can use an RSS reader to subscribe to the sites you'd like to see that are blocked (if they have an RSS feed). You can search within a feed reader for the site's feed you're looking for; most feed readers will also have a list of Most Popular feeds that you can browse through to see if the sites you're trying to access are there already.
9. Convert the IP address to a decimal number
In the first item on this list, I told you about using an IP address instead of typing in an entire domain name. You can also convert an IP address to a decimal number to unblock blocked sites. Use the tools mentioned in item one of this list, and then use this IP Address to Decimal Conversion tool to get what you need.
10. Try using Tor
Tor is a "a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet." It's a free software download that basically protects your activities on the Web from being tracked, and will allow you to access blocked sites. You can read more about Tor at the Tor overview, and learn about how to install Tor at the Tor documentation page. Since Tor does run through multiple nodes and networks, it tends to make your browsing a bit slow; however, you can bypass that by only using Tor when you are trying to unblock blocked sites (try the Tor button addon to make this even easier).