For the first time… well, ever, Microsoft Bing is being noticed in the mainstream. The announcement of Bing Chat powered by OpenAI ChatGPT has caught Google off guard and put Microsoft’s search engine on the map. So, what is the first thing the company is doing with this new-found goodwill? Pissing off people by trying to monetize its new product, of course.
We have already seen how Bing Chat AI searches will have ads attached to them. Microsoft has now also confirmed it is increasing the amount developers must pay to access the Bing Search API. In some ways, a price increase was expected considering Bing is now much more powerful and has ChatGPT AI.
However, the company has left developers stunned by increasing the price of APIs 10x… yes, they will now cost 10 times more.
Bing Search APIs allows developers to create apps that connect to Bing services to help ind images, websites, videos, news, and more without using ads. Included in the package is the Bing News API, Bing Images Search API, and Bing Web Search API.
In its announcement for the price increase, the company offers the following excuse:
“We periodically assess the value and pricing of our services to meet market demands and align the pricing of our products and services with customer consumption trends and preferences. The new pricing model reflects more accurately the technology investments Bing continues to make to improve Search.”
Price Changes
- Bing Web Search on S1 instance now costs $25 per 1000 transactions (previously $7 per 1,000)
- Bing Web Search on S6 instance now costs $15 per 1000 transactions (previously cost $15 per 1,000 transactions)
- Optional Bing Statistics Add-in now costs $10 per 1000 transactions (previously $1 per 1000 transactions)
Microsoft says the new Bing Search API pricing will start on May 1, 2023 across all markets.
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Last Updated on February 23, 2023 1:49 pm CET by Markus Kasanmascheff
