Announcing Important Changes to the Bing Search API

I just got the following from Microsoft.



Dear Bing API Developer:

For the past several years, the Bing Search API has made search data available for developers to innovate and build upon. Today we are announcing that the Bing Search API will transition to an offering made available on the Windows Azure Marketplace. The Windows Azure Marketplace is a one stop shop for cloud data, apps, and services, including the Microsoft Translator API. Through this platform, developers can access hundreds of data sets and APIs and distribute their applications through the marketplace.

A few important things to note regarding the upcoming transition:

* With the transition, Bing Search API developers will have access to fresher results, improved relevancy, and more opportunities to monetize their usage of the Search API. To offer these services at scale, we plan to move to a monthly subscription model. Developers can expect subscription pricing to start at approximately $40 (USD) per month for up to 20,000 queries each month.
* The transition will begin in several weeks and will take a few months to complete. Developers will be encouraged to try the Bing Search API for free on the Windows Azure Marketplace during the transition period, before we begin charging for the service.
* At this time, you can continue using Bing Search API 2.0 free of charge. After the transition period, Bing Search API 2.0 will no longer be available for free public use.

Details regarding the transition timeline, pricing structure, and other changes will be announced in upcoming weeks. In the meantime, we encourage you to explore the Windows Azure Marketplace and read the documentation. As a Bing Search API developer, 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. Developers using approximately 3 to 4 million queries and above can expect to transition through a separate process (details will be provided shortly).

We understand that many of you are using the API as an important element in your websites and applications, and we will continue to share details with you through the Bing Developer Blog as we approach the transition. We appreciate your patience during this time.

Bing Developer Team

Thanks for forwarding this, we received the same email yesterday and will be evaluating the best way to proceed from here. we will likely find a free search service to support in the future.

Is it suggested that we start removing the Bing search functionality from current sites if we don't want to be charged in the future?

I think you would need to opt into the subscription model to be charged, I don't they will flip a switch and automatically start charging you. More probable would be that the search stops returning results until you sign up for the paid subscription.


you can use the Google Toolkit extension to add Google search at this time if you like:
dreamweaver-tools-for-google/

The last mail for Microsoft, good news:

"Dear Bing API Developer:

Following our blog post last month, we are pleased to announce that 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 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"