Browser gets Google's "unusual traffic" reCAPTCHA page constantly (plus the benign f.txt download side effect) even though the browser config looks fine. Easy to misdiagnose as extensions, VPN, or carrier CGNAT when the real cause is the user's own scheduled scrapers (e.g. Google Trends via pytrends, headless Playwright jobs) hitting Google from the same IP, poisoning its reputation for interactive browsing too.

When building bookmark managers, link grids, speed-dial pages, dashboard link sections, or any UI that shows a collection of website links, you need icons for each site. Options: (1) Manually download and host icons — tedious, doesn't scale. (2) Use a big icon library like FontAwesome — doesn't have website-specific logos. (3) Use each site's /favicon.ico — unreliable, CORS blocked, inconsistent sizes, some sites use .png or .svg. (4) Use a favicon proxy service — the right answer. Without icons, link grids look bland and are hard to scan visually. Users rely heavily on favicon recognition for quick navigation.