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Microsoft Bing Custom Search API

Freemium
apisearchdeveloper toolsmicrosoftazuresite searchcustom searchcognitive servicespaassearch api

An API enabling developers to build highly customized, ad-free search engines for their websites and apps. It leverages Bing's index while allowing fine-grained control over specified domains and content ranking.

Try it out

Microsoft Bing Custom Search API is a cloud-based service that allows developers to create a bespoke search experience for a specific topic or collection of websites. It is designed for businesses and developers who need to integrate powerful, topic-specific search into their applications or websites without building a search index from scratch. Users define a 'slice' of the web by specifying domains and pages to include, exclude, pin, or demote through an easy-to-use portal. Unlike generic web search APIs, it provides a highly relevant, ad-free, and controlled search environment by harnessing Bing’s core infrastructure for crawling and ranking. This offers a scalable and cost-effective way to deliver a focused search experience that aligns with a brand's specific content and user needs.

Pros

  • Leverages Bing's massive, up-to-date web index, eliminating the need to build one.
  • Provides granular control to pin, boost, demote, or block specific domains and URLs.
  • Delivers completely ad-free search results for a clean, branded user experience.
  • Features an easy-to-use web portal for defining and testing the search instance before API integration.
  • Integrates seamlessly within the Azure ecosystem, connecting with services like Azure Functions and Monitor.
  • Scalable pay-as-you-go pricing model for paid tiers.

Cons

  • Entirely dependent on Bing's index; content not indexed by Bing cannot be included in results.
  • Azure's usage-based pricing can be unpredictable for applications with highly variable traffic.
  • Limited to 10,000 URLs for custom configurations (pin/block/boost), which may be insufficient for very large sites.
  • The free tier is limited to 1,000 transactions/month, often necessitating a paid plan for small production sites.
  • Customization is focused on filtering and re-ranking results, not altering the core ranking algorithm.

Key features

  • Web portal for search instance configuration and testing
  • RESTful API for programmatic search queries
  • Domain and URL filtering (include, exclude, pin, boost)
  • Ad-free search results
  • Built-in search statistics and analytics dashboard
  • Image and video search within the defined web slice
  • SafeSearch filtering options (Off, Moderate, Strict)
  • Autosuggest API for query suggestions

Integrations

Azure Active DirectoryAzure MonitorAzure Logic AppsAzure FunctionsPower BIPower AutomateAny application supporting REST API (Python, Node.js, C#, Java)

Target audience

Web developers, application programmers, and businesses needing to embed a targeted, ad-free search experience on their websites, apps, or enterprise platforms without managing their own search infrastructure.

Ratings & Reviews

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Based on 0 reviews

Key Metrics

Founded

2017

Headquarters

Redmond, USA

Pricing Tiers

Free

Includes 1,000 transactions per month and is limited to 1 transaction per second (TPS).

Free

S1

The base paid, pay-as-you-go tier that supports up to 10 transactions per second (TPS).

$5 per 1,000 transactions

S2

Supports up to 25 transactions per second (TPS) for higher volume needs.

$7 per 1,000 transactions

S3

Supports up to 50 transactions per second (TPS) for demanding applications.

$10 per 1,000 transactions

Frequently Asked Questions

Top Alternatives to Microsoft Bing Custom Search API

Google Programmable Search Engine

A direct competitor that leverages Google's index, which some users prefer, and offers ad-supported free plans that can be sufficient for many websites.

Algolia

This is a more developer-centric 'search-as-a-service' solution offering high speed and deep algorithmic customization, but it requires you to push your own data to its index.

Elasticsearch

An open-source search engine that provides total control over indexing and relevance, making it ideal for complex use cases or searching private data, though it requires more setup and management.

Azure AI Search

This alternative from Microsoft is better suited for indexing and searching your own private, heterogeneous datasets from sources like Azure Blob Storage or SQL databases.

Ready to get started?

Join thousands of users and see how Microsoft Bing Custom Search API can transform your workflow today.

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