Bing API, Version 2
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Bing API SourceTypes are transitioning to the Windows Azure Marketplace. You can access these services and relevant documentation here.
The Bing Application Programming Interface (API), Version 2, enables developers to programmatically submit queries to and retrieve results from the Bing Engine. This topic introduces the online documentation and additional resources that support use of the Bing API.
How the Documentation is Organized
Bing API documentation is organized with the intent to provide overview, survey, and detailed information for each important area of the API. Thus, the documentation:
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Begins with information about what the API does, and what it does that it didn't do before
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Proceeds to provide relevant survey information for protocols, SourceTypes, and properties
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Concludes with detailed samples demonstrating all of the above.
Table 1 specifies the sections in which you can find this information.
Table 1. Where to find information in the Version 2 documentation
| Section Title | Contains information about |
|---|---|
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The types of information that developers can retrieve from the service. | |
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Recent updates to the API for users of earlier versions. | |
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Basic requirements for development with the API. | |
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Criteria for choosing whether to use the JSON, XML, or SOAP protocols, and how to formulate a request to their respective interfaces. | |
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The purpose of each API SourceType. A SourceType is a source of information accessible to the API; every API request is sent to at least one SourceType. This section also provides reference links to properties and enumerations applicable to each SourceType. | |
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Reference material for the classes, properties, and methods available to Bing developers. | |
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Complete samples that demonstrate how to send requests to and parse responses from each SourceType. Samples are written for each protocol, in languages appropriate for the protocol. |
Additional Resources
Table 2 specifies additional resources for information related to the Bing API, Version 2.
Table 2. Additional Resources
| Navigate to this resource | For information about |
|---|---|
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Services and developer offerings from Windows Live. | |
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Using Webmaster Tools to troubleshoot the crawling and indexing of your sites, as well as submit sitemaps and view statistics about those sites. | |
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Terms and conditions regarding using the Bing API, Version 2 | |
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Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) messaging protocol and WSDL documents | |
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Other XML-based services and technologies | |
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Developer support |