In the web development landscape, developers often need to integrate web search engine functionality into their apps. For example, e-learning platforms can integrate search engine functionality to enable students to quickly find relevant articles, research papers, courses, etc. Similarly, travel websites and booking platforms can add search engine features to allow users to search for flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. Additionally, with web scraping becoming highly popular, developers often need to build web scraping apps, which require extracting search engine result pages (SERP) data. However, creating a search engine or web scraping functionality from scrape can be quite challenging and time-consuming, especially when it comes to complex searches. This is where Bing API plays a crucial role.

Bing API simplifies complex searches for developers and makes it easy to retrieve relevant information from the vast repository of web data.

This article will explore the basics of Bing API, how it works, and how it simplifies complex searches for developers. We’ll also discuss how to enhance data retrieval and streamline search queries with practical coding examples.

Understanding Bing API

Bing is a popular web search engine offering features like web search, image search, video search, news, maps, and more. With Bing API, you can retrieve all this information programmatically. Essentially, there are two types of Bing APIs. One is the official Bing web search API offered by Microsoft, and others are third-party Bing APIs for web scraping.

Bing Web Search API

With the official Bing search API, you can programmatically retrieve information from the Bing search engine, including web searches, images, videos, news, maps, and more. In other words, the API provides a structured way to access Bing’s vast repository of web content.

The API essentially allows you to integrate Bing search functionality into your app directly. For example, you can integrate the API into an e-commerce platform, e-learning platform, or travel website to enable users to find relevant information from the World Wide Web easily. The REST API allows you to make requests using the HTTP GET method and delivers results in a structured JSON format.

While the API is great for integrating web search functionality into your apps, it’s not designed for web scraping. Using the API for web scraping may violate Microsoft’s terms of service for the API. If you’re looking to develop a web scraper app or an app that requires web scraping functionality, it’s best to use a Bing API designed specifically for web scraping.

Bing Search APIs for Search Results Scraping

A Bing search API for search result scraping allows you to retrieve Bing search engine result pages (SERPs) programmatically. Depending on the API, you can scrape various types of search results, such as organic, paid/ads, maps, news, images, and videos. These APIs are typically REST APIs, allowing you to retrieve data easily using a simple HTTP GET request.

Since these APIs are specially designed for scaping SERPs, you can easily integrate them into your apps requiring web-scaping functionality without worrying about rate limiting, blocking, etc. While several third-party Bing search APIs are available for web scraping, not all APIs are made equal in terms of data accuracy, scalability, speed, and performance. Thus, choosing the right Bing SERP API for your project is essential. An example of a reliable Bing search API for search result scaping is Zenserp.

Zenserp Bing Search API

Zenserp offers a highly accurate and efficient Bing search API for fast SERP scraping. The powerful REST API is backed by a strong infrastructure, enabling developers to programmatically scrape search engine result pages in real time.

The API supports all major Bing SERPs, including:

  • Organic results
  • Paid results/ads
  • Images
  • Videos
  • News
  • Maps
  • People also ask for
  • Related searches
  • Knowledge graph or block
  • Answerbox Results, such as Calculations, Time, Weather Reports, Dictionary, and more

Other prominent features of the Zenserp API include:

  • Location-based search queries: Zenserp supports location-based search queries, allowing users to specify the location, country code, latitude and longitude, and market.
  • Pagination: The API offers a ‘Pagination’ feature, which allows you to set the offset for search results.
  • Highly Scalable: The API is highly scalable and handles high volume efficiently without compromising performance.
  • Supports All Programming Languages: You can use Zenserp Bing API with any programming language of your choice and retrieve data with any HTTP client.
  • Affordable: Zernserp offers a free API plan with 50 monthly API requests. Additionally, the API has various flexible pricing plans offering advanced features at affordable prices.
  • Easy to Use: Getting started with Zenserp is super easy. The API has detailed documentation with various coding examples, making the integration process easier. Moreover, Zenserp provides an extensive request builder that efficiently converts your requests into production-ready code snippets.
  • Batch Endpoint: Zenserp also offers a batch endpoint for very large datasets, enabling you to retrieve multiple SERPs asynchronously.

You can try the API and its features here.

Challenges of Complex Searches

A complex search is a user search query that goes beyond the simple keyword-based search. These search queries involve various filters, conditions, and parameters to retrieve relevant information from the web. For example, users might narrow down their search queries using parameters/filters like location, price range, date range, etc., instead of just using a keyword or phrase. Additionally, they may refine their queries using advanced filters like product features, searching for a specific brand, etc.

Handling such searches can be challenging. For example, returning highly targeted and precise information/search results that closely match user-specified conditions/criteria is difficult. Moreover, complex searches can involve querying multiple search types, such as web pages, news, images, videos, and maps. Integrating and aggregating all these results while ensuring relevance can be technically challenging for developers. This is where Bing API comes in.

You can use the official Bing web search API to integrate search engine functionality into your application. The API is designed to comb billions of search engine result pages and return the most relevant search results. The API supports location-based and safe search filtering, handling complex searches efficiently. Moreover, the API integration allows you to retrieve a wide range of relevant search results, such as web search results, images, videos, maps, news, and more, with a single API call.

Similarly, if you’re using an efficient Bing API for web scraping, such as Zenserp, you can handle complex searches efficiently. Zenserp Bing search engine API covers all major Bing SERPs, including organic, paid, image, videos, related results, and more. Thus, the API efficiently integrates and aggregates all these results while maintaining relevance. Additionally, Zenserp API allows developers to obtain accurate and geolocated search engine results, implying complex queries.

Integrating Bing API

Integrating Bing Web Search API:

Here is a simple example to perform Bing Web Searches using the Bing Web Search API. The example includes code for handling authentication, constructing requests, handling responses, and logging results.

const https = require('https')
const SUBSCRIPTION_KEY = process.env['AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY']
if (!SUBSCRIPTION_KEY) {
  throw new Error('Missing the AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY environment variable')
}
function bingWebSearch(query) {
  https.get({
    hostname: 'api.bing.microsoft.com',
    path:     '/v7.0/search?q=' + encodeURIComponent(query),
    headers:  { 'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': SUBSCRIPTION_KEY },
  }, res => {
    let body = ''
    res.on('data', part => body += part)
    res.on('end', () => {
      for (var header in res.headers) {
        if (header.startsWith("bingapis-") || header.startsWith("x-msedge-")) {
          console.log(header + ": " + res.headers[header])
        }
      }
      console.log('\nJSON Response:\n')
      console.dir(JSON.parse(body), { colors: false, depth: null })
    })
    res.on('error', e => {
      console.log('Error: ' + e.message)
      throw e
    })
  })
}
const query = process.argv[2] || 'Microsoft Bing Search Services'
bingWebSearch(query)

The above code works as follows:

  • The ‘https’ module allows us to make HTTPS requests.
  • The ‘AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_KEY; environment variable is used to store the subscription key.
  • The ‘bingWebSearch’ function performs a Bing Web Search using the HTTPS ‘GET’ method and saves the search query as a query parameter. It constructs the API endpoint URL with the provided query.
  • The callback function is executed when the HTTP request to the Bing API is successful. When new data is received from the Bing API server, the callback function is invoked with the received data (part). If there is an error during the HTTP request, the callback function is invoked with the error (e). Finally, the callback function subscribes to the ‘end’ event of the response object. This event confirms that the response has been received from the Bing API server.

You can check out the Bing web search API documentation to learn more about integrating the API.

Integrating Zenserp Bing API

Below is an example code for integrating Zenserp Bing API:

const express = require('express');
const request = require('request');

const app = express();
const PORT = process.env.PORT || 3000;

// Placeholder for the API key
const apiKey = 'YOUR-APIKEY'; // Replace 'YOUR-APIKEY' with your actual Zenserp API key

app.get('/search', (req, res) => {
  const query = req.query.q; // Get search query from query parameters
  if (!query) {
    return res.status(400).send('Missing search query');
  }
  // Call the function to fetch search results
  fetchSearchResults(query, apiKey, (err, results) => {
    if (err) {
      return res.status(500).send('Error fetching search results');
    }
    res.json(results);
  });
});

function fetchSearchResults(query, apiKey, callback) {
  // Make a request to Zenserp Bing API
  const apiUrl = `https://app.zenserp.com/api/v2/search?q=${encodeURIComponent(query)}&apikey=${apiKey}&search_engine=bing.com`;
  request(apiUrl, (err, response, body) => {
    if (err) {
      return callback(err);
    }
    if (response.statusCode !== 200) {
      return callback(new Error(`Unexpected status code: ${response.statusCode}`));
    }
    const data = JSON.parse(body);
    callback(null, data);
  });
}

app.listen(PORT, () => {
  console.log(`Server is running on http://localhost:${PORT}`);
});

In the above code, we’ve created a simple node.js app that allows you to scrape search engine results for your desired query:

  • We’ve used the Express framework for handling HTTP requests and responses.
  • Next, we’ve defined the API key. To get started with Zenserp, you first need to sign up and create an account. You can then obtain your unique API key from your Zenserp dashboard that you’ll use instead of ‘YOUR-API KEY’ in the above code.
  • Next, we’ve defined a route for handling GET requests to the /search endpoint.
  • The function fetchSearchResults(query, apiKey, … constructs the URL for the Zenserp Bing API endpoint using the provided query and API key. It makes an HTTP GET request to the Zenserp Bing API using the request module.
  • Finally, we’ve started the server.

Checking the Output

You can check the output of the above code as follows:

  • Create a new folder in Visual Studio code, then create a new file named app.js inside the folder.
  • Copy the above code in your app.js file (Replace ‘YOUR-APIKEY’ with your actual API key).
  • In Visual Studio code, go to the ‘View’ tab, then select terminal and run the following command in the terminal: npm install express request.
  • Open the Command Prompt on your computer and change the directory to the folder where your app.js file is saved. Then, run the following command to start the server: node app.js. You’ll see the following response: The server is running on http://localhost:3000.
  • To test the output in your browser, copy and paste the following URL: http://localhost:3000/search?q=your_query. Replace ‘you_query’ with your desired query.

Benefits and Use-Cases of Bing SERP API

Real-Time Data

Bing API provides real-time Bing search results. Thus, developers can use the API to retrieve accurate and up-to-date information.

Structured Data

When you use a Bing API, whether the official Bing web search API or a third-party Bing API for SERP scraping, you get structured data in JSON format. This makes it easier for developers to process and integrate the data into their apps without the need for complex parsing.

High Volume

Both Bing web search API and Zenserp API are designed to handle large volumes of search queries without compromising performance. Thus, developers can use these APIs in apps requiring high scalability and volume.

Travel Websites

Bing web search API can be used in travel websites and booking platforms to integrate search functionality. This way, users can search for flights, hotels, rental cars, etc., within the platform, enhancing the user experience.

E-Commerce Platforms

Developers can integrate the Bing web search API in e-commerce platforms to enable users to find specific products quickly without navigating through numerous categories.

E-Learning Platforms

In e-learning platforms, implementing search functionality through Bing web search API can allow students to quickly find relevant articles, courses, research papers, etc.

Also read: 5 Innovative Ways to Leverage Search Engine APIs for Business Growth.

Market Research

Businesses can retrieve high-volume SERP data using a Bing API for web scraping. This data provides valuable information for market research, competitive analysis, and trend identification. For example, businesses can identify emerging market trends and customer preferences. They can also analyze competitors’ activities, such as product prices, product launches, marketing strategies, etc.

SEO Monitoring

Using a Bing SERP API like Zenserp, SEO professionals and digital marketers can track keyword positions and monitor search engine rankings. Moreover, they can analyze search result features such as featured snippets and related searches and create effective SEO strategies accordingly.

Conclusion

There are two types of Bing APIs. One is the official Bing API for integrating search engine functionality into your apps. The other type of Bing API is SERP scarping API, such as Zenserp, which allows you to retrieve Bing SERPs programmatically. These APIs simplify complex searches for developers by providing easy access to real-time Bing SERP data and returning structured responses in JSON format. Moreover, these APIs support location-based search queries and a wide range of Bing search results, such as web results, images, videos, news, maps, etc., implying complex searches for developers.

Sign up for Zenserp Bing search API for free today and retrieve real-time SERP data in high volume!

FAQs

Is the Bing API free?

You can use the Zenserp Bing search API for fast result scaping for free. The free plan offers 50 monthly searches.

Can I use Bing API for SERP scraping?

Bing web search API by Microsoft is not designed for web scaping. However, you can use an efficient API like Zenserp Bing Search API, which is specially designed to scrape SERP data efficiently.

Is Bing API easy to integrate?

If you’re using Zenserp, you can use its extensive request builder that efficiently converts your requests into production-ready code snippets.

Bing Search API: Fast Search Result Scraping