Handling Geo-Restricted Content in Playwright
Many modern websites offer content based on a user’s geographic location—also known as geo-restricted content. While this is useful for regional marketing and compliance, it can become a challenge during automated testing, especially when simulating how users in different countries interact with the website.
Playwright, a fast-growing open-source testing framework developed by Microsoft, offers powerful tools to handle such scenarios. In this blog, we'll explore how to test geo-restricted content effectively using Playwright.
🌍 What is Geo-Restricted Content?
Geo-restricted content refers to web elements, features, or entire pages that are visible or accessible only to users from specific regions. Common examples include:
Location-specific pricing or currencies
Regionally available products or services
Language preferences
Legal notices and cookie consent banners
Country-specific videos or media content
Testing this behavior is crucial to ensure that your application functions correctly across different regions.
🤖 Why Use Playwright?
Playwright supports headless browser automation and has built-in support for:
Geolocation mocking
Context-level browser settings
Device emulation
Multi-browser support (Chromium, Firefox, WebKit)
These features make Playwright a great choice for automating tests that depend on user location.
🔧 Mocking Geolocation in Playwright
To simulate a specific location, you can use Playwright’s geolocation API along with browser permissions.
📌 Example: Simulating a User from Paris, France
javascript
const { chromium } = require('playwright');
(async () => {
const browser = await chromium.launch({ headless: false });
const context = await browser.newContext({
geolocation: { latitude: 48.8566, longitude: 2.3522 },
permissions: ['geolocation']
});
const page = await context.newPage();
await page.goto('https://example.com');
// Test geo-restricted content here
await browser.close();
})();
You can change the coordinates to any country or city to test different content visibility and behavior.
🌐 Using Proxies or VPNs for Location-Based Testing
While geolocation mocking works for websites that use the browser’s location, some websites detect user location based on IP address. In such cases, simply setting geolocation won’t work.
✅ Solution: Use IP-based Proxy
You can configure Playwright to route traffic through a proxy server located in the region you want to test.
javascript
const browser = await chromium.launch({
proxy: {
server: 'http://us-proxy-server.com:3128',
username: 'user',
password: 'pass'
}
});
You can combine this with geolocation mocking to simulate both IP-based and browser-based regional detection.
📋 Best Practices
✅ Combine geolocation mocking and IP proxies for comprehensive coverage
✅ Create test cases for each major region your product supports
✅ Test language switching and content availability
✅ Validate currency, tax rates, and pricing differences
✅ Log and assert based on region-specific content visibility
🧪 Example Test Scenario
Test: A product is available in the U.S. but restricted in the EU.
Set up a proxy with a U.S. IP
Mock geolocation for New York
Visit the product page and verify that “Buy Now” is visible
Repeat with a German IP and Berlin coordinates to verify the “Buy Now” button is hidden.
🏁 Final Thoughts
Handling geo-restricted content is essential for ensuring your website functions globally. With Playwright’s robust features like geolocation mocking and proxy support, you can reliably test how your app behaves across borders.
Whether you’re testing region-specific features or ensuring compliance, Playwright gives you the control you need—no passport required.
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