Bing is the second most popular search engine after Google, handling over 900 million searches per day. With Microsoft‘s integration of ChatGPT-like AI into Bing, scraping Bing search results can provide valuable insights into changing search behaviors and emerging trends. This comprehensive guide will teach you how to ethically scrape data from Bing using web scraping tools.
Why Scrape Bing Search Results?
Here are some of the key reasons to scrape data from Bing:
Monitor rankings and optimize content – See where your site ranks for key terms versus competitors. Identify new SEO optimization opportunities.
Conduct market research – Analyze search volumes and trends to gain consumer and industry insights. Identify rising keywords and hot topics.
Enrich datasets – Augment existing datasets with additional data like related searches, images, and rich snippet information.
Sentiment analysis – Gauge public perception and emotional tone of search queries.
Academic research – Search data provides valuable insights for researchers across fields.
Price monitoring – Track product and service costs across the web.
News monitoring – Identify breaking stories and news by analyzing trends.
Ad monitoring – See text ads competitors are running on Bing.
Step-by-Step Guide to Scrape Bing with Apify
To scrape Bing efficiently at scale, we recommend using a dedicated web scraping platform like Apify rather than coding your own scraper. Here is a simple 5 step guide to scraping Bing with Apify:
Step 1 – Sign up for an Apify account
First, sign up for a free Apify account. You won‘t need a credit card to use their free plan.
Step 2 – Go to the Bing Web Scraper
Search for "Bing Web Scraper" in the Apify store or click this direct Bing scraper link. Click "Try for Free" to launch the scraper.
Step 3 – Configure scrape settings
The scraper will open with pre-filled sample search queries. Add or edit these to the keywords or URLs you want to scrape from Bing. You can also configure advanced settings like:
Number of pages per search query
Number of search results per page
Custom proxies or proxy countries
Step 4 – Run the scraper
When ready, click "Run" to execute the Bing scraper. It will automatically handle CAPTCHAs and blocks.
Step 5 – Export scraped data
When completed, you can preview results or export data to JSON, CSV, Excel, etc.
And that‘s it! Apify provides a simple point-and-click interface to scrape Bing at scale, while handling proxies and headless browsers behind the scenes.
What Data Can You Scrape from Bing?
Bing search results pages contain a wealth of data you can extract, including:
Page titles and descriptions
HTML page content
Related and "People also ask" suggestions
Image results and links
Video results and links
News article results
Knowledge graph and sidebar data
Search ad copy, headlines and links
Sitelinks on SERPs
Estimated monthly search volumes
So beyond just scraping the organic results, you can compile rich datasets from all the additional information Bing provides.
Is Scraping Bing Legal?
Scraping publicly available data from search engine results pages is generally legal according to U.S. law.
Bing‘s terms of service do prohibit scraping however some legal experts argue these terms may not hold up in court. That said, always consult an attorney to understand the legal risks before you scrape.
When scraping Bing or Google, keep these guidelines in mind:
Only scrape public search results – never attempt to access private data or circumvent login pages.
Use scraping tools responsibly – implement politeness settings to avoid overloading servers.
Follow robots.txt directives – don‘t crawl or scrape pages blocked in this file.
Avoid scraping personal information like emails and phone numbers.
Don‘t republish scraped content verbatim – instead synthesize or analyze data.
Alternatives to Scraping Bing
If you want to access Bing data without directly scraping, consider these options:
Bing Web Search API
Microsoft provides a Bing Web Search API that lets you integrate search results into apps. There is a free tier but advanced features require paid plans starting at $5 per 1000 queries.
Bing News Search API
For news monitoring, the Bing News Search API provides articles, trends, headlines and more. The free tier allows 5,000 queries per month.
Bing Image and Video Search APIs
To only extract media results, use the dedicated Bing Image and Video Search APIs.
Search Console API
If you mainly want to check keyword rankings, use Google‘s Search Console API which provides this data directly.
Tips for Effective Bing Scraping
Follow these tips to ensure successful scraping projects:
Test scraping at small scale first to catch issues early.
Use legitimate residential proxies to minimize blocking risks. Avoid datacenter IPs.
Implement random delays between requests to mimic human behavior.
Rotate user agents from a list of real desktop/mobile browser agents.
Solve CAPTCHAs automatically via integration of services like 2CAPTCHA.
Persist session cookies and proxy assignments for continuity across requests.
Deploy headless browsers to dynamically render JavaScript.
Monitor scrapers in real-time for failures and optimize on the fly.
Conclusion
Scraping search engines like Bing can provide valuable data, but should be performed ethically. Using purpose-built tools like Apify makes the process easy while avoiding legal pitfalls. With AI poised to transform Bing results, having the ability to monitor search trends will remain crucial.
Hopefully this guide has equipped you with the knowledge to efficiently scrape Bing SERPs at scale. Let me know if you have any other questions!
