With a little over one month before December 15, End of Life for the Azure Data Market “Bing Search” and “Bing Web Results Only” API offerings is quickly approaching.
At Bing we are continuously hard at work to improve our offerings and are excited that the next version of our APIs are now part of Microsoft Cognitive Services. These new APIs bring with them exciting new capabilities and will replace the Bing APIs currently available on the Azure Data Market. API releases contain important updates leading to great new experiences, more innovation and new features to delight our customers. Regular updates enable our teams to schedule changes in a predictable cadence and allow our customers to plan their work and take advantage of the new innovations, features, and industry standards in a timely manner.
Partners who are currently using the APIs via the Azure Data Market will have the option to migrate to the Microsoft Cognitive ServicesSearch API offerings prior to December 15, 2016.
If you choose not to upgrade to the new API offering, you will automatically lose access to your existing Bing Search or Bing Web Results Only Azure subscriptions at 5:00 PM Pacific Time on December 15, 2016 and calls to these API endpoints will no longer return any data.
How to upgrade to Microsoft Cognitive Services Search API
ACTION: You will need to have upgraded to Microsoft Cognitive Services Search API before December 15, 2016.
Below are a few resources to help guide you through the process:
- Migration Guide - Upgrading From Bing API Version 2 to Version 5
- Webcast Video - How to move from Bing Search API V2 to Microsoft Cognitive Services Search API
(Note: To access the video, click the “Register” button and enter your details.)
If you have additional questions, read through the FAQ below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do I know if I am affected by this deprecation?
A. If you are using an active Azure Data Market subscription and calling one of the Bing API end points, you are affected.
The Bing API endpoints follow the format of https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Bing/SearchWeb/Web?Query=%27Xbox%27 (or) https://api.datamarket.azure.com/Bing/Search/Web?Query=%27New+Xbox+Games%27
Q. What will happen to my charges in general?
A. Your Azure Data Market subscription is entirely separate from your new Azure Cognitive Services subscription. After creating your Azure Cognitive Services subscription, you must cancel your Azure Data Market subscription in order to avoid being double charged. To cancel your Azure Data Market subscription, login to datamarket.azure.com or manage.windowsazure.com and cancel your Bing Search API or Bing Web results only API subscription. If you do not cancel your Azure Data Market subscription by December 15, 2016, it will be automatically canceled for you.
Q. How long will Azure Data Market Bing Search and Bing Web Results Only API be available?
A. The Bing APIs offered using Azure Data Market will be available through December 14, 2016.
Q. What are the differences between the APIs offered via Azure Data Market and APIs offered via Microsoft Cognitive Services?
A. Below is a high level summary of comparison between the two API offerings. Also the new API’s output in JSON rather than XML. (See also the migration guide.)
| Category Feature | v2 | v5 | |
| Web Search | REST API | x | x |
| Related searches | x | x | |
| Ranked Answers (image, video, news, math, time) |
x | ||
| Deep links (for first web page result) | x | ||
| Adult intent signal | x | ||
| Image Search | REST API | x | x |
| Enhanced filters: image size, license, style | x | ||
| Visually similar images and products | x | ||
| Merchant and recipe sources (for product and food images) |
x | ||
| Trending images | x | ||
| Entity recognition (for people) | x | ||
| Computer-generated captions | x | ||
| Video Search | REST API | x | x |
| Video previews (motion thumbnails) | x | ||
| Enhanced video metadata (creator, resolution, view count) |
x | ||
| Free / Paid video filter | x | ||
| Trending videos | x | ||
| News search | REST API | x | x |
| News articles by category or market | x | x | |
| Trending news (general or by category) | x | ||
| Enhanced article metadata, including featured entities | |||
| Spell Check | REST API | x | |
| Autosuggest | REST API | x | |
| General | Location and market awareness | x | x |
| Spelling suggestions | x | x | |
| Safe search | x | x | |
| Related searches | x | x | |
| Continuous relevance improvements | x | ||
| Ongoing support and feature improvements | x | ||
Q. Where do I find the guide for migrating to the new Bing Search APIs that are part of Microsoft Cognitive Services?
A. You can find the Azure Data Market APIs to Microsoft Cognitive Services API upgrade guide here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/mt707570.aspx
Q. How often should I expect an API release and support for each version going forward?
A. Our current schedule for API version updates is once a year. We expect to support next versions from the launch date for a full year. Partners are encouraged to stay current with the Bing API versions and should plan to upgrade to the latest version at least once a year.
Q. Can I use my existing Azure subscription to purchase the Microsoft Cognitive Services search offering?
A. Yes, you will be able to add Microsoft Cognitive Services paid offerings within your subscription management portal at https://ms.portal.azure.com/.
Q. How can I purchase through Microsoft Cognitive Services?
A. Within your subscription management portal (https://ms.portal.azure.com/), you can add new services within the Intelligence Category > Cognitive Services > select API type “Bing Search API.”
Q. Who should I contact for support or help with the migration?
A. You can find migration documentation at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/library/mt707570.aspx.
Q. When will pricing and General Availability (GA) terms be available for the new Microsoft Cognitive Services Search API?
A. July 1, 2016
Q. Who should I contact if I have any additional follow-up questions with regards to this email and about the Microsoft Cognitive Services Search API?
A. Please visit https://cognitive.uservoice.com/ to contact us.
Our team is here to help, reach out to the Azure Support via User Voice for any additional questions.
- The Bing Search Team