How to search for an image specifically by Image ID

Glean 0

We have been experiencing intermittent issues with the bing image search API. When using the /images/search endpoint and specifying the ID of the image. We are not always returning the image relating to the ID at all. According to documentation it should be the first in the list.

When specifying the ID we have been setting the search string to a generic string because we did not have the original search term and this was working fine until recently. The documentation does state that the one with that ID should be first in the list.

An example is https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/images/search?imageId=4191E68FF7C1E470184492EC3045ECF486911987&q=a

We have been seeing a 1 in 5 to 1 in 30 success rate with these messages sent in this way. How should we search for a specific image using the API when we know the Image ID?

dupammi 8,465 Reputation points Microsoft Vendor

2024-07-19T08:10:35.7166667+00:00
Hi @Glean

Thank you for the question.

To retrieve a specific image and its related images using the Bing Image Search API, you need to include both the q (query) and id (image ID) parameters in your request. Here’s how you can properly format your request:

Query Parameter (q): This should be the search term that is relevant to the image you are interested in. It helps to get the context and related images.

ID Parameter (id): This should be the specific imageId of the image you want to retrieve.

Here’s how you can structure your cURL request:

curl -H "Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key: yourkeygoeshere" "https://api.bing.microsoft.com/v7.0/images/search?q=Red-knobbed+hornbill&id=467A365F7E182F8875EB3379B3B1E8DB4FB2C464&mkt=en-us

Breakdown of the Request: q=Red-knobbed hornbill: This is the search term used to find images related to "Red-knobbed hornbill". id=467A365F7E182F8875EB3379B3B1E8DB4FB2C464: This is the specific image ID you are interested in. mkt=en-us: This specifies the market (region) for the search results. You can adjust this based on your needs. What to Expect in the Response:

When you use the id parameter correctly, the response will contain the specific image with the provided imageId as the first image in the results, along with related images.

Example Response:

The response includes images related to the query "Red-knobbed hornbill" and provides details like the image’s URL, thumbnail, and related metadata.

If you call Image Search API to get the related images, set the id query parameter to the ID in the imageId field. Specifying the ID ensures that the response contains the image (it is the first image in the response) and its related images. Also, set the q query parameter to the text in the Query object's text field.

For more details, please refer Handling the response

I hope this helps. Thank you.

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