Following our blog post last month, the Bing Search API is now available on the Windows Azure Marketplace. Starting today, you can sign up in the Marketplace to access web, image, news, and video search results, as well as related searches and spelling suggestions using JSON or XML.
We structured the service as follows:
- For up to 5,000 queries per month, developers can access the API for free on the Windows Azure Marketplace. At this level, the large majority of our existing developers – including non-profits, educational institutions, and smaller scale applications– can continue using the service for free.
- For greater than 5,000 queries per month, developers can purchase a subscription on the Windows Azure Marketplace. Developers interested in using only web results can also sign up for a lower cost offering.
As a one stop shop for cloud data, apps, and services, the Windows Azure Marketplace provides opportunities to access hundreds of other datasets and distribute your applications. In transitioning, the Search API is able to serve more relevant and up-to-date results. In addition, we encourage you to review the updated terms of use, which now allow greater flexibility to re-order and blend results so that you have greater control over how Bing data is integrated into services and applications.
Right now, we’re offering a free limited time trial for any subscription tier to help in the transition process. If you are a high volume user who needs more queries per month than what is listed on the Marketplace, please submit a request to onboard through a separate process.
If you have an existing Bing Search API 2.0 AppID:
We encourage existing developers to begin transitioning to the Windows Azure Marketplace before Bing Search API 2.0 AppIDs are decommissioned on August 1, 2012. On and after this date, AppIDs will no longer return results. Developers can continue using the API by signing up for the Windows Azure Marketplace or by submitting a request if greater query volume is needed.
To transition your application to the Windows Azure Marketplace:
- Sign up for the Marketplace.
- Read the migration guide on transitioning your application. You can expect the transition to involve targeting a new API end point, moderate changes to the request and response schemas, and a new security requirement to authenticate your application key.
- Subscribe to the Bing Search API and create an application key. You will not be charged for API usage until the trial period expires.
In an effort to prioritize our more frequently used services, the Phonebook SourceType and the RSS endpoint will no longer be available through the Bing Search API beginning August 1, 2012. Translation capabilities will continue to be offered through Microsoft Translator instead of through the Bing Search API.
If you have questions about our offering on the Windows Azure Marketplace, please see the FAQs.
We’ve received a lot of helpful feedback in the past few weeks, and we appreciate your involvement as we continue growing our search services. Please stay tuned on this blog for future updates.
Note: The changes described in this announcement apply only to the Bing Search API. Bing Maps services will not be impacted.
- Bing Developer Team