IP rotation means changing the IP address your requests appear to come from, either on a schedule or per request, instead of using one address the whole time.
Rotation strategies
Round robin cycles through your proxy list in order, which is simple but predictable. Random selection picks a proxy at random for each request, which is harder to fingerprint as a pattern. Some setups retire a proxy for a cooldown period after use, mimicking how a real user wouldn't reuse the same connection instantly.
Session-based vs per-request rotation
Some tasks need the same IP to persist across a short sequence of actions — like a login followed by a few page views — since switching IP mid-session looks suspicious. Other tasks are fine rotating on every single request.
Keeping the pool healthy
Rotation only helps if the proxies in your pool are actually working. Pairing rotation with a periodic health check that removes dead proxies from the pool keeps the whole system from silently degrading over time.