Why do some online shopping sites, like Target, not seem to work on VPN?

BigTacoFan

I have tried shopping on Target but the search results will not load. I have deleted cookies and tried Firefox and Chrome, then I realized my VPN was on. Turned it off and everything loaded. What is Bitdefender's advice to shop online while staying connected to the VPN?

Scott

Hello @BigTacoFan

At times, there isn't anything we can do. Some sites realize an "unknown" ip address is trying to connect to them, and either the webpage won't load, or we have to go through the CAPTCHA dance to access the page.

You can try connecting to a server closer to your location, and if that works, just keep using it. On the main VPN UI, bottom left/Locations. It sounds like you're in the US, so we have multiple server locations to choose from.

You could also try changing Protocols from Automatic to Wireguard, or one of the other ones.

If you're able to get on the site, but some functions are blocked, you can disable Ad blocker and Anti-tracker and see if that helps.

Otherwise, you will need to add Target into Split tunneling, so you don't have to keep manually disabling then re-enabling the VPN for that website.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/13353/

I hope this helped.

Scott

BigTacoFan

Thank you, Scott! I'll try those options you suggest.

Alexandru_BD

Indeed, certain websites practice geo-blocking as a way of limiting access based on the user’s geographical location. Geo-blocking is done by identifying the IP address and some websites have ways to detect and block a VPN connection. Therefore, as a first troubleshooting method, change your VPN server to obtain a new IP and potentially bypass the restriction. Like Scott suggested, Split-tunneling would be the recommended solution here, but make sure to disable the built-in Ad blocker and Anti-tracker as well, because some sites might restrict access or limit features for users who have ad blockers enabled, and the Anti-tracker may also block essential trackers used to monitor critical webpage functionalities, therefore this may affect the behavior of the site as well.

Regards