Image Search API - v7

The Image Search API lets partners send a search query to Bing and get back a list of relevant images. Note you should call the Image API if you need image content only. If you need other content such as news and webpages in addition to images, you must call the Search API which includes images in the response. You must display the images in the order provided in the response.

Request URL

Request parameters

string

The user's search query string

(optional)
number

The number of image results to return in the response. The actual number delivered may be less than requested.

(optional)
number

The zero-based offset that indicates the number of image results to skip before returning results.

(optional)
string

The market where the results come from. Typically, this is the country where the user is making the request from; however, it could be a different country if the user is not located in a country where Bing delivers results. The market must be in the form -. For example, en-US.



Full list of supported markets:
es-AR,en-AU,de-AT,nl-BE,fr-BE,pt-BR,en-CA,fr-CA,es-CL,da-DK,fi-FI,fr-FR,de-DE,zh-HK,en-IN,en-ID,en-IE,it-IT,ja-JP,ko-KR,en-MY,es-MX,nl-NL,en-NZ,no-NO,zh-CN,pl-PL,pt-PT,en-PH,ru-RU,ar-SA,en-ZA,es-ES,sv-SE,fr-CH,de-CH,zh-TW,tr-TR,en-GB,en-US,es-US
(optional)
string

A filter used to filter results for adult content.

Request headers

string
Subscription key which provides access to this API. Found in your Cognitive Services accounts.

Request body

Response 200

{
    "_type": "Images",
    "instrumentation": {
        "pingUrlBase": "https://www.bingapis.com/api/ping?IG=08FFB177A90A4DF585A703215CEC19AA&CID=070910FF0C0362112C11188E0DD06323&ID=",
        "pageLoadPingUrl": "https://www.bingapis.com/api/ping/pageload"
    },
    "readLink": "https://www.bing.com/api/V7/images/search?q=cats",
    "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=cats&FORM=OIIARP",
    "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5042.1",
    "totalEstimatedMatches": 1000,
    "value": [
        {
            "name": "Proxecto Gato: cats wallpapers by bighdwallpapers",
            "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&FORM=OIIRPO&q=cats&id=DF010D14AC241C0AC39B5EAFD85F8B117825C79B&simid=608001210598098509",
            "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5043.1",
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M42428010d527fc1225757ada9d9a8bccH0&pid=Api",
            "datePublished": "2012-08-23T12:00:00",
            "contentUrl": "http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XkviAtJ1s6Q/T3YFb2RUhDI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/EHomLZlFMKo/s1600/small+cat.jpg",
            "hostPageUrl": "http://proxectogato.blogspot.com/2012/08/cats-wallpapers-by-bighdwallpapers.html",
            "hostPageUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5006.1",
            "contentSize": "241661 B",
            "encodingFormat": "jpeg",
            "hostPageDisplayUrl": "proxectogato.blogspot.com/2012/08/cats-wallpapers-by...",
            "width": 1600,
            "height": 1200,
            "thumbnail": {
                "width": 480,
                "height": 360
            },
            "imageInsightsToken": "ccid_QkKAENUn*mid_DF010D14AC241C0AC39B5EAFD85F8B117825C79B*simid_608001210598098509",
            "insightsSourcesSummary": {
                "shoppingSourcesCount": 1,
                "recipeSourcesCount": 0
            },
            "imageId": "DF010D14AC241C0AC39B5EAFD85F8B117825C79B",
            "accentColor": "5A4E46"
        },
        {
            "name": "Kitten - Cats Wallpaper (18565791) - Fanpop",
            "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&FORM=OIIRPO&q=cats&id=6119DF9238F0C40EC3C326F41919BAFBF88F5CA4&simid=608041523156487908",
            "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5044.1",
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M7dfb8973bca22c4939102df3ae3de66do0&pid=Api",
            "datePublished": "2012-06-29T23:55:00",
            "contentUrl": "http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/18500000/Kitten-cats-18565791-1024-768.jpg",
            "hostPageUrl": "http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/cats/images/18565791/title/kitten-wallpaper",
            "hostPageUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5011.1",
            "contentSize": "207480 B",
            "encodingFormat": "jpeg",
            "hostPageDisplayUrl": "www.fanpop.com/clubs/cats/images/18565791/title/kitten-wallpaper",
            "width": 1024,
            "height": 768,
            "thumbnail": {
                "width": 300,
                "height": 225
            },
            "imageInsightsToken": "ccid_ffuJc7yi*mid_6119DF9238F0C40EC3C326F41919BAFBF88F5CA4*simid_608041523156487908",
            "insightsSourcesSummary": {
                "shoppingSourcesCount": 1,
                "recipeSourcesCount": 0
            },
            "imageId": "6119DF9238F0C40EC3C326F41919BAFBF88F5CA4",
            "accentColor": "7D694E"
        },
        {
            "name": "Wonderous Cats Admiration of the docile feline",
            "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailv2&FORM=OIIRPO&q=cats&id=EDF89351A0ECA99617C859D06F71450FCB5EF2E3&simid=608032623984250213",
            "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5045.1",
            "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.M38d3aa9aa6cc8c444492212efdb3a91dH0&pid=Api",
            "datePublished": "2014-04-27T22:53:00",
            "contentUrl": "http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/cfperron/cats/images/cat8.jpg",
            "hostPageUrl": "http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/cfperron/cats/",
            "hostPageUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5016.1",
            "contentSize": "484631 B",
            "encodingFormat": "jpeg",
            "hostPageDisplayUrl": "www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/cfperron/cats",
            "width": 2015,
            "height": 1511,
            "thumbnail": {
                "width": 480,
                "height": 359
            },
            "imageInsightsToken": "ccid_ONOqmqbM*mid_EDF89351A0ECA99617C859D06F71450FCB5EF2E3*simid_608032623984250213",
            "insightsSourcesSummary": {
                "shoppingSourcesCount": 1,
                "recipeSourcesCount": 0
            },
            "imageId": "EDF89351A0ECA99617C859D06F71450FCB5EF2E3",
            "accentColor": "5F4937"
        }
    ],
    "queryExpansions": [
        {
            "text": "Grumpy Cat",
            "displayText": "Grumpy",
            "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Grumpy+Cat&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Grumpy%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d&FORM=IRPATC",
            "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5049.1",
            "searchLink": "https://www.bing.com/api/V7/images/search?q=Grumpy+Cat&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Grumpy%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d",
            "thumbnail": {
                "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?q=Grumpy+Cat&pid=Api&mkt=en-US&adlt=moderate&t=1"
            }
        },
        {
            "text": "Funny Cats",
            "displayText": "Funny",
            "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Funny+Cats&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Funny%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d&FORM=IRPATC",
            "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5051.1",
            "searchLink": "https://www.bing.com/api/V7/images/search?q=Funny+Cats&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Funny%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d",
            "thumbnail": {
                "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?q=Funny+Cats&pid=Api&mkt=en-US&adlt=moderate&t=1"
            }
        }
    ],
    "nextOffsetAddCount": 0,
    "pivotSuggestions": [
        {
            "pivot": "cats",
            "suggestions": [
                {
                    "text": "Felidae",
                    "displayText": "Felidae",
                    "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=Felidae&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Felidae%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d&FORM=IRQBPS",
                    "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5134.1",
                    "searchLink": "https://www.bing.com/api/V7/images/search?q=Felidae&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22Felidae%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d",
                    "thumbnail": {
                        "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?q=Felidae&pid=Api&mkt=en-US&adlt=moderate&t=1"
                    }
                },
                {
                    "text": "African Wildcat",
                    "displayText": "African Wildcat",
                    "webSearchUrl": "https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=African+Wildcat&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22African+Wildcat%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d&FORM=IRQBPS",
                    "webSearchUrlPingSuffix": "DevEx,5136.1",
                    "searchLink": "https://www.bing.com/api/V7/images/search?q=African+Wildcat&tq=%7b%22pq%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22qs%22%3a%5b%7b%22cv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22cats%22%2c%22hps%22%3atrue%2c%22iqp%22%3afalse%7d%2c%7b%22cv%22%3a%22African+Wildcat%22%2c%22pv%22%3a%22%22%2c%22hps%22%3afalse%2c%22iqp%22%3atrue%7d%5d%7d",
                    "thumbnail": {
                        "thumbnailUrl": "https://tse3.mm.bing.net/th?q=African+Wildcat&pid=Api&mkt=en-US&adlt=moderate&t=1"
                    }
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "displayShoppingSourcesBadges": false,
    "displayRecipeSourcesBadges": true
}

Code samples

@ECHO OFF

curl -v -X GET "https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search?q=cats&count=10&offset=0&mkt=en-us&safeSearch=Moderate"
-H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: {subscription key}"

--data-ascii "{body}" 
using System;
using System.Net.Http.Headers;
using System.Text;
using System.Net.Http;
using System.Web;

namespace CSHttpClientSample
{
    static class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {
            MakeRequest();
            Console.WriteLine("Hit ENTER to exit...");
            Console.ReadLine();
        }
        
        static async void MakeRequest()
        {
            var client = new HttpClient();
            var queryString = HttpUtility.ParseQueryString(string.Empty);

            // Request headers
            client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", "{subscription key}");

            // Request parameters
            queryString["q"] = "cats";
            queryString["count"] = "10";
            queryString["offset"] = "0";
            queryString["mkt"] = "en-us";
            queryString["safeSearch"] = "Moderate";
            var uri = "https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search?" + queryString;

            var response = await client.GetAsync(uri);
        }
    }
}	
// // This sample uses the Apache HTTP client from HTTP Components (http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/)
import java.net.URI;
import org.apache.http.HttpEntity;
import org.apache.http.HttpResponse;
import org.apache.http.client.HttpClient;
import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
import org.apache.http.client.utils.URIBuilder;
import org.apache.http.impl.client.HttpClients;
import org.apache.http.util.EntityUtils;

public class JavaSample 
{
    public static void main(String[] args) 
    {
        HttpClient httpclient = HttpClients.createDefault();

        try
        {
            URIBuilder builder = new URIBuilder("https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search");

            builder.setParameter("q", "cats");
            builder.setParameter("count", "10");
            builder.setParameter("offset", "0");
            builder.setParameter("mkt", "en-us");
            builder.setParameter("safeSearch", "Moderate");

            URI uri = builder.build();
            HttpGet request = new HttpGet(uri);
            request.setHeader("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key", "{subscription key}");


            // Request body
            StringEntity reqEntity = new StringEntity("{body}");
            request.setEntity(reqEntity);

            HttpResponse response = httpclient.execute(request);
            HttpEntity entity = response.getEntity();

            if (entity != null) 
            {
                System.out.println(EntityUtils.toString(entity));
            }
        }
        catch (Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
}

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>JSSample</title>
    <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>

<script type="text/javascript">
    $(function() {
        var params = {
            // Request parameters
            "q": "cats",
            "count": "10",
            "offset": "0",
            "mkt": "en-us",
            "safeSearch": "Moderate",
        };
      
        $.ajax({
            url: "https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search?" + $.param(params),
            beforeSend: function(xhrObj){
                // Request headers
                xhrObj.setRequestHeader("Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key","{subscription key}");
            },
            type: "GET",
            // Request body
            data: "{body}",
        })
        .done(function(data) {
            alert("success");
        })
        .fail(function() {
            alert("error");
        });
    });
</script>
</body>
</html>
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
    
    NSString* path = @"https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search";
    NSArray* array = @[
                         // Request parameters
                         @"entities=true",
                         @"q=cats",
                         @"count=10",
                         @"offset=0",
                         @"mkt=en-us",
                         @"safeSearch=Moderate",
                      ];
    
    NSString* string = [array componentsJoinedByString:@"&"];
    path = [path stringByAppendingFormat:@"?%@", string];

    NSLog(@"%@", path);

    NSMutableURLRequest* _request = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:path]];
    [_request setHTTPMethod:@"GET"];
    // Request headers
    [_request setValue:@"{subscription key}" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key"];
    // Request body
    [_request setHTTPBody:[@"{body}" dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    
    NSURLResponse *response = nil;
    NSError *error = nil;
    NSData* _connectionData = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:_request returningResponse:&response error:&error];

    if (nil != error)
    {
        NSLog(@"Error: %@", error);
    }
    else
    {
        NSError* error = nil;
        NSMutableDictionary* json = nil;
        NSString* dataString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:_connectionData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
        NSLog(@"%@", dataString);
        
        if (nil != _connectionData)
        {
            json = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:_connectionData options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers error:&error];
        }
        
        if (error || !json)
        {
            NSLog(@"Could not parse loaded json with error:%@", error);
        }
        
        NSLog(@"%@", json);
        _connectionData = nil;
    }
    
    [pool drain];

    return 0;
}
<?php
// This sample uses the Apache HTTP client from HTTP Components (http://hc.apache.org/httpcomponents-client-ga/)
require_once 'HTTP/Request2.php';

$request = new Http_Request2('https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search');
$url = $request->getUrl();

$headers = array(
    // Request headers
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key' => '{subscription key}',
);

$request->setHeader($headers);

$parameters = array(
    // Request parameters
    'q' => 'cats',
    'count' => '10',
    'offset' => '0',
    'mkt' => 'en-us',
    'safeSearch' => 'Moderate',
);

$url->setQueryVariables($parameters);

$request->setMethod(HTTP_Request2::METHOD_GET);

// Request body
$request->setBody("{body}");

try
{
    $response = $request->send();
    echo $response->getBody();
}
catch (HttpException $ex)
{
    echo $ex;
}

?>
########### Python 2.7 #############
import httplib, urllib, base64

headers = {
    # Request headers
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': '{subscription key}',
}

params = urllib.urlencode({
    # Request parameters
    'q': 'cats',
    'count': '10',
    'offset': '0',
    'mkt': 'en-us',
    'safeSearch': 'Moderate',
})

try:
    conn = httplib.HTTPSConnection('brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com')
    conn.request("GET", "/bing/v7.0/images/search?%s" % params, "{body}", headers)
    response = conn.getresponse()
    data = response.read()
    print(data)
    conn.close()
except Exception as e:
    print("[Errno {0}] {1}".format(e.errno, e.strerror))

####################################

########### Python 3.2 #############
import http.client, urllib.request, urllib.parse, urllib.error, base64

headers = {
    # Request headers
    'Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key': '{subscription key}',
}

params = urllib.parse.urlencode({
    # Request parameters
    'q': 'cats',
    'count': '10',
    'offset': '0',
    'mkt': 'en-us',
    'safeSearch': 'Moderate',
})

try:
    conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection('brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com')
    conn.request("GET", "/bing/v7.0/images/search?%s" % params, "{body}", headers)
    response = conn.getresponse()
    data = response.read()
    print(data)
    conn.close()
except Exception as e:
    print("[Errno {0}] {1}".format(e.errno, e.strerror))

####################################
require 'net/http'

uri = URI('https://brazilsouth.api.cognitive.microsoft.com/bing/v7.0/images/search')
uri.query = URI.encode_www_form({
    # Request parameters
    'q' => 'cats',
    'count' => '10',
    'offset' => '0',
    'mkt' => 'en-us',
    'safeSearch' => 'Moderate'
})

request = Net::HTTP::Get.new(uri.request_uri)
# Request headers
request['Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key'] = '{subscription key}'
# Request body
request.body = "{body}"

response = Net::HTTP.start(uri.host, uri.port, :use_ssl => uri.scheme == 'https') do |http|
    http.request(request)
end

puts response.body