bing map

Question

hi i am totally new to bing map,

i am running a private business in uk and i have been using google map api , but i would like to stop using google map api, and moving to bing map,

could some one let me know how much does it cost for business use customers , and i would like to see the api manual for bing ,

my web site is already running on asp.net, so i wanted to try bing in my new site release ,

thanks

regards

kksfdo

Answer 1

Hi,

it really depends on many things: how are you going to use your map, how frequently, under which loads etc. The one stop shop to mine all the information you need about that is

http://www.microsoft.com/maps/product/

You can see the capabilities now with http://www.bingmapsportal.com/isdk/ajaxv7

and you can get a feel of the API here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff701722.aspx

To start off you can create a free account here http://www.bingmapsportal.com/
There are tonns of usefull dev info there too.

Answer 2

@kksfdo - Bing Maps comes in several "flavours" - there's components for AJAX/Silverlight/REST/WCF/various mobile platforms - which offer different combinations of services from drawing maps, to routefinding, searching for locations, geocoding etc. You can examine the full set of services at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd877180.aspx

The choice can be a bit baffling to newcomers (especially as the 'net is also littered with outdated/other versions such as the ASP.Net CTP control, the v6.3 AJAX control etc.) - if you post a link to your current website, we examine what functionality you're implementing and recommend the best set of Bing services you should use to achieve them. If you're currently using the Google Maps API, the most likely combination of services you'll want to investigate are the AJAX map control (latest version v7) to draw the map on the page, and the REST services (if you need to provide routefinding, geocoding services etc.), but there may be other alternatives.

Cost depends on usage. It costs nothing if your website is publicly accessible and you have less than 500,000 transactions per year and less than 50,000 in any 24hr period (whether you're a commercial business or not). Other terms are stated in http://www.microsoft.com/maps/product/terms.html

---

twitter: @alastaira blog: http://alastaira.wordpress.com/ | Pro Spatial with SQL Server 2012

Answer 3

Hi tanoshimi 

thanks for u r reply,

you mentioned bellow point on your last comment

"Cost depends on usage. It costs nothing if your website is publicly accessible and you have less than 500,000 transactions per year and less than 50,000 in any 24hr period (whether you're a commercial business or not). Other terms are stated in http://www.microsoft.com/maps/product/terms.html"

problem is even though our web site appeared in a public domain , our internal staff should login to the  site in order to use the map service, so public people wont see the map functionality, 

also we  definitely exceeds the 500,000 transactions per year , and in this case how much does it cost? i could not find out any terms for this ? 

regards

kksfdo

Answer 4

In that case, you'll need an enterprise licence - the "correct" channel to do so is to send an email to [e-mail], but they're not always that responsive.

Try contacting them first with a description of your requirements to discuss costs but, if you have no luck with them, post back here and hopefully Ricky Brundritt (MS) will be able to help you out.

---

twitter: @alastaira blog: http://alastaira.wordpress.com/ | Pro Spatial with SQL Server 2012