Azure Bing Search Shutdown: The 2026 Replacement

Microsoft discontinued the Bing Search API in 2025. Azure AI builders that depended on it spent the back half of the year migrating to alternatives. An r/AZURE post in 2026 surfaced this again: a 6-part series on building an AI product search agent on Azure AI, with the search-API question still open for new builders.

The replacement options

• Tavily. Drop-in for Bing migrations. LLM-tuned summaries. Single surface (open web only).
• Scavio. Multi-platform: SERP + Reddit + YouTube + Amazon + Walmart under one key. Plain HTTPS POST, no SDK.
• Serper. Cheap raw SERP at high volume. No extract, single surface.
• Brave Search API. Independent index. $5/1K Search, $4/1K Answers + tokens.

What Azure AI Foundry needs

The agent tool calling pattern accepts any HTTPS endpoint as a tool. No Azure-specific SDK or marketplace listing is required. A 30-line wrapper plus an entry in the agent's tool definition is enough.

// Azure Function tool wrapper for Scavio
import { app } from '@azure/functions';

app.http('product_search', {
  methods: ['POST'],
  handler: async (req, context) => {
    const { query } = await req.json() as { query: string };
    const H = {
      'x-api-key': process.env.SCAVIO_API_KEY!,
      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    };
    const [a, w] = await Promise.all([
      fetch('https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/amazon/search',
        { method: 'POST', headers: H, body: JSON.stringify({ query }) }
      ).then(r => r.json()),
      fetch('https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/walmart/search',
        { method: 'POST', headers: H, body: JSON.stringify({ query }) }
      ).then(r => r.json()),
    ]);
    return {
      jsonBody: {
        amazon: (a.products || []).slice(0, 5),
        walmart: (w.products || []).slice(0, 5),
      },
    };
  },
});

The Bing migration pattern

Most Bing calls were GET /v7.0/search withOcp-Apim-Subscription-Key header. The migration is URL change, header change, response shape map. Eachr.webPages.value[i] becomesr.organic_results[i]; .url becomes.link; .name becomes.title. Migration time: 10-30 minutes per function.

Why multi-platform helps Azure agents

The r/AZURE post built a product search agent. Single-source product agents miss community-flagged winners. Reddit threads on r/BuyItForLife and product subs return independent product opinions that a SERP-only agent cannot match. Adding/reddit/search as a second tool is one extra function definition, no extra credentials.

What Azure-native users miss

Neither Tavily nor Scavio currently has an Azure Marketplace listing. For procurement-driven enterprises that buy via Marketplace, this is a blocker. Brave is also not on Marketplace last time we checked. Azure-Marketplace-only buyers have to wait or escalate via custom procurement. For startups and indie builders, BYO-vendor is fine.

Cost per call

Tavily PAYG: $0.008/credit. Scavio: $0.0043/query. Brave Search: $0.005/query. Serper at high volume: $0.0003-0.001 per query. Bing in its final pricing was around $0.005/query. For most agents, the cost per call is rounding error vs Azure compute and LLM tokens; pick by surface coverage and agent fit.

The honest constraint

Azure AI Foundry's agent runtime is good but the tool-list design pattern is generic. Whichever search API you pick, the wrapper code looks the same. The migration from Bing is mechanical. The strategic decision is which API to commit to for the next 2-3 years given that Bing already taught you what vendor risk feels like.