Terms of Use for Grounding with Bing Search and Grounding with Bing Custom Search

Last updated: May 2025

These terms of use ("TOU") apply to your use of the Services and Output with the Approved Microsoft Application (all as defined below). By installing, accessing, or otherwise using the Services within your Application (defined below), you are agreeing to these TOU with Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft", "we", "us", or"our"). You represent and warrant to us that you have the authority to accept these TOU on behalf of yourself, a company, or another entity, as applicable ("you" or "Company"). We may change, amend, or cancel these TOU at any time. Your use of the Services after the changes become effective means you agree to the new TOU. If you do not agree to the new TOU, you must stop using the Services.

Section 1. Definitions.

Wherever used in these TOU with the first letter capitalized, these terms have the following meanings:

  • (a) "AI Model" means a computer program that has been trained on a set of data to recognize patterns or make decisions.
  • (b) "Application" means your software application, website, or product you create or a service you offer designed to provide access to the Services.
  • (c) "Approved Microsoft Application" means the applicable Microsoft product or service through which Microsoft makes the Services and Output available to you.
  • (d) "Bing Search Services Data" means data that is provided to Microsoft by, or on behalf of, you through use of the Services.
  • (e) "Documentation" means any documentation provided to you by Microsoft applicable to the Services.
  • (f) "End User" means the users of your Application.
  • (g) "Output" means any search results, images, data, third party content, or other content that Microsoft makes available to you via the Services.
  • (h) "Services" means, as applicable, Grounding with Bing Search or Grounding with Custom Search, including any successor, similar or replacement versions of such services, which includes access to (i) Output after being processed and summarized using an LLM and (ii) Documentation.
  • (i) "Standard Terms" means any licensing agreement that you agree to and under which Microsoft makes access to the Services available including but not limited to either the Microsoft Customer Agreement ("MCA"), or the Microsoft Online Subscription Agreement ("MOSA").
  • (j) "Use and Display Requirements" means the use and display terms applicable to use of the Services and appended hereto as Appendix and incorporated herein.

Section 2. License grants.

 

  • (a) Use of the Service and Output. Expressly conditioned upon your compliance with these TOU, subject to the restrictions and requirements therein, and solely during the term of these TOU, Microsoft grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, revocable license to: (i) use and request calls to the Services to develop, test, and support your Application and to allow End Users to use your integration of the Services within your Application; and (ii) to use the Output, as it is provided by the Services, in your Application. You may use the Services using only the methods and means of access that are documented in the Documentation.
  • (b) Attribution and proprietary notices. Microsoft grants you a non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferable, revocable license to reproduce and display Microsoft's logos in the Output in connection with your authorized use of the Services for the sole purpose of providing attribution to Microsoft as required by the Use and Display Requirements. If the Output includes Microsoft's or its suppliers' logos or proprietary notices, you will not change, obscure, remove, or resize any logo, trademark, copyright, or other notice of Microsoft or its suppliers or digital watermarks in the Output. If such notices are not included in the Output, unless otherwise noted in the Use and Display Requirements, you must display in a conspicuous manner within your Application the Microsoft or third-party attribution provided by Microsoft.
  • (c) No Derivative Works. You will not modify or create a derivative work based on any Output unless expressly permitted to do so under these TOU.
  • (d) Use and Display Requirements. You must comply with the Use and Display Requirements which are appended hereto in Appendix and incorporated herein.
  • (e) No Training. For the avoidance of doubt, you may not use any Output to train any AI Models, including without limitation your proprietary AI Model.

Section 3. Account Access.

We will provide you with account credentials ("Account Credentials") when you sign up for the Services. You may not share your Account Credentials with any third party, and you must use the Account Credentials as your sole means of accessing the Services. You are responsible for the security and confidentiality of your Account Credentials and all use of the Services through your Account Credentials. You must notify Microsoft promptly of any possible misuse of your accounts or Account Credentials. You may not create multiple accounts for the purpose of circumventing transaction limits or fees.

Section 4. Use of the Services.

(a) You may use the Services only as expressly permitted in these TOU and in the Use and Display Requirements.

  • a. Your use of the Services is subject to any additional restrictions or rights included in the Standard Terms. In the event of a conflict between the Standard Terms and these TOU, these TOU will control solely with respect to your use of the Services.
  • b. Microsoft may, in its sole discretion, limit: (i) the rate at which the Services, or any subset of it, may be called; (ii) the amount of storage made available to each Services account; or (iii) the length of individual content segments that may be uploaded to, or served from, the Services.

(b) When using the Services, you may not, nor may you permit third parties or your End Users to:

  • a. Use the Services outside of, or separately from, the Approved Microsoft Application.
  • b. Use the Services in any application or situation where failure of the Services could lead to the death or serious bodily injury of any person or to severe physical or environmental damage;
  • c. Use the Services in a way that could impair, harm, or damage Microsoft, any Microsoft service or application, anyone's use of the Services, or any other Microsoft service or application;
  • d. Use the Services to disrupt, interfere with, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to services, servers, or networks connected to or that can be accessed via the Services;
  • e. Use the Services in a way that violates applicable law, including without limitation:
    • i. Illegal activities, such as child pornography, gambling, piracy, or violating copyright, trademark, or other intellectual property laws;
    • ii. Intending to exploit minors in any way;
    • iii. Accessing or authorizing anyone to access the Services from an embargoed country;
    • iv. Threatening, stalking, defaming, defrauding, degrading, victimizing or intimidating anyone for any reason; or
    • v. Violating applicable privacy laws and regulations;
  • f. Reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble Services, except and only to the extent that applicable law expressly permits, despite this limitation;
  • g. Use the Services to create a database or service that competes with Output received when using the Services;
  • h. Use the Output in combination with any open source software or other data subject to an open source license that may impair the copyright protection of the Output;
  • i. Use Services in any way that threatens the integrity, performance, or reliability of Services or any Microsoft product or service, including performance or stress testing, or in any manner that works around any technical limitations in Services;
  • j. Request from a Service more than the minimum data that your Application needs to offer End Users the intended Application functionality;
  • k. Request from a Service any information outside any permissions granted by the End User of your Application, if a Service requires permissions;
  • l. Redistribute, resell, or sublicense access to any Microsoft service or Output;
  • m. Falsify or alter any unique referral identifier in, or assigned to, an Application, or otherwise obscure or alter the source of queries coming from an Application;
  • n. Circumvent or bypass transaction limits or fees by any means or in any manner, including by creating multiple accounts; or
  • o. Copy, store, cache, archive, or create a database of Output.

(c) Additional restrictions may apply to use of particular Output or functionalities, as set forth in the Documentation from time to time.

Section 5. Fees and payment.

  • (a) Pricing and payment. Pricing and payment terms are provided to you at the time you sign up for the Services.
  • (b) Taxes. Prices are exclusive of any taxes unless otherwise specified on the invoice as tax inclusive. You must pay any applicable value added, goods and services, sales, gross receipts, or other transaction taxes, fees, charges or surcharges, or any regulatory cost recovery surcharges or similar amounts that are owed under these TOU and which Microsoft is permitted to collect from you under applicable law. You will be responsible for any applicable stamp taxes and for all other taxes that you are legally obligated to pay. Microsoft will be responsible for all taxes based on its net income, gross receipts taxes imposed in lieu of taxes on income or profits, or taxes on its property ownership. If any taxes are required to be withheld on payments you make to Microsoft, you may deduct such taxes from the amount owed to Microsoft and pay them to the appropriate taxing authority; provided, however, that you promptly secure and deliver an official receipt for those withholdings and other documents Microsoft reasonably requests to claim a foreign tax credit or refund. You must ensure that any taxes withheld are minimized to the extent possible under applicable law.

Section 6. Data collection and privacy

  • (a) Microsoft may collect information from you or End Users such as, but not limited to, an End User's IP address, requests, time of submissions and the results returned to the End User, in connection with transaction requests to the Services. All access to and use of the Services, including Microsoft's processing of Bing Search Services Data, is subject to the data practices set forth in the then-current Privacy Statement, a current copy of which is available at https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-us/privacystatement. You must prominently include a functional hyperlink to the Microsoft Privacy Statement in your Application End User terms of use. Label the hyperlink Microsoft Privacy Statement.
  • (b) Bing Search Services Data and Output are not Customer Data, as defined in the Standard Terms. The Privacy and Security Terms of the Microsoft Product Terms do not apply to the Services. Microsoft’s processing, storage and use of Bing Search Services Data and Output is set forth in the Privacy Statement.
  • (c) With respect to any personal data subject to the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and that is processed in connection with your use of the Services, you understand that you and Microsoft are independent data controllers under the GDPR. You are independently responsible for your compliance with the GDPR.
  • (d) You acknowledge and agree that the Services are excluded from the Microsoft Products and Services Data Protection Addendum.

Section 7. Intellectual Property and Reservation of Rights.

  • (a) Reservation of rights. All rights to the Services and the Output, including rights of use, not specifically granted under these TOU are reserved by Microsoft and its suppliers.
  • (b) Ownership. Except for material that we may license to you, we do not claim ownership of any data, information, or content that you upload or otherwise provide to us related to the Services. Except as expressly stated in these TOU, these TOU do not grant Microsoft any right or license to any Application or your intellectual property, including intellectual property that you have licensed from third parties.

Section 8. Disclaimer of Warranties.

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the Standard Terms or herein, the Services and all Output are provided "as is", “with all faults” and “as available,” without warranty or service level agreements of any kind by Microsoft or its suppliers. To the maximum extent permitted by law, any and all representations, warranties, or conditions of any kind whatsoever (including, but not limited to, implied or statutory warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, accuracy or satisfactory quality), all with regard to the Services and any Output, are expressly excluded by Microsoft and its suppliers. Microsoft and its suppliers make no warranty that the Services will operate properly as integrated with the Applications, that the Services will be uninterrupted, or that any Output will be accurate or complete. Microsoft and its suppliers specifically disclaim any liability for End Users' reliance on the Services. Without limiting the foregoing, Microsoft and its suppliers will not be liable for harm to End Users resulting from reliance on any Output provided hereunder.

Section 9. Disclaimer of consequential damages.

Neither party nor Microsoft's suppliers will be liable for any indirect damages (including, without limitation, consequential, special or incidental damages, damages for loss of profits or revenues, business interruption, or loss of business information), arising out of or related to the Services, Output, or these TOU, even if advised of the possibility of such damages or if the possibility was reasonably foreseeable.

Section 10. Limitation of Liability.

The aggregate liability of each party for all claims under these TOU is limited to direct damages up to the amount paid under these TOU during the 12 months before the cause of action arose. None of the limitations and exclusions in Sections 9 or 10 apply to claims related to either party's violation of the other party's intellectual property rights or to any obligation to pay fees or to either party’s defense obligations under Section 11.

Section 11. Defense Claims.

  • (a) By Microsoft. Microsoft will defend you against any third-party claims to the extent it alleges that the Services, used within the scope of the TOU and the Use and Display requirements, misappropriates a trade secret or directly infringes a patent, copyright, trademark or other proprietary right of a third party.
  • (b) By you. You will defend Microsoft against any third party claims to the extent it alleges that (1) any Application, Bing Search Services Data, product or services you provide, directly or indirectly, in using the Services misappropriates a trade secret or directly infringes a patent, copyright, or trademark or other proprietary right of a third party; (2) your use of the Services, alone or in combination with anything else, violates the law or damages a third party; or (3) arises from violation of these TOU or the Use and Display Requirements.
  • (c) Limitations. Microsoft’s obligations in Section 11(a) will not apply to a claim or award based on: (i) any Application, Bing Search Services Data, third party product or service, modifications you make to the Services, or services or materials you provide or make available as part of using the Services; (ii) your combination of the Services with, or damages based upon the value of, your Application, Bing Search Services Data, or any third party product, service, data, or business process; (iii) your use of a Microsoft trademark without our express written consent, or your use of the Services after we notify you to stop due to a third-party claim; (iv) your redistribution of the Services to, or use for the benefit of, any unaffiliated third party; or (v) Services provided free of charge.
  • (d) Remedies. If we reasonably believe that a claim under 11(a) may bar your use of the Services, we will seek to: (i) obtain the right for you to keep using it; or (ii) modify or replace it with a functional equivalent and notify you to stop use of the prior version of the Services. If these options are not commercially reasonable, we may terminate your rights to use the Services and then refund any advance payments for unused Services.
  • (e) Obligations. The parties will defend each other against the third-party claims described in this Section 11 and will pay the amount of any resulting adverse final judgment or approved settlement, but only if the defending party is promptly notified in writing of the claim and has the right to control the defense and any settlement of it. The party being defended must provide the defending party with all requested assistance, information, and authority, and must take all reasonable action to mitigate its losses arising from the third-party claim. The defending party will reimburse the other party for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses it incurs in providing assistance. This section describes the parties’ sole remedies and entire liability for such claims.

Section 12. Term and termination.

These TOU are effective upon your acceptance. Either party may terminate these TOU upon 30 days written notice to the other party; provided, that Microsoft may in its sole discretion deprecate the Services and/or revoke your rights to use the Services at any time immediately upon written notice. In the event of termination by either party, all rights granted to you by these TOU will automatically terminate and you will cease to have any rights to use the Services and all unpaid amounts for Services delivered prior to termination automatically become due and payable.

Section 13. Services updates.

We may change the Services at any time. Some changes to the Services may cause your Application to stop working. Microsoft will make commercially reasonable efforts to provide you with advance notice of material changes or updates to the Services.

Section 14. Suspension.

We may suspend your use of the Services if: (a) it is reasonably needed to protect the security or integrity of the Services, any third parties or any other Microsoft product or service; (b) you fail to respond to a claim under Section 11 within a reasonable time; (c) you do not pay amounts due under these TOU; or (d) you violate any terms of these TOU. Microsoft may suspend your access to all Services immediately, with or without notice; provided, that Microsoft will provide 30 days’ notice before suspending you for non-payment. If you do not fully address the reasons for the suspension within the time specified by Microsoft, we may terminate your access to the Services. We may also terminate your access to the Services if your use is suspended more than twice in any 12-month period.

Section 15. Changes to the TOU.

We may update these TOU from time to time in our sole discretion. We will notify you of any changes as provided by Section 16 or through the user interface of the Approved Microsoft Application. If you do not agree to the changes, then you must stop using the Services. If you do not stop using the Services, then your use of the Services will continue under the changed TOU. If we choose to change the fees for the Services, Microsoft will provide notice of such terms as provided in Section 16, and you may elect to stop using the Services rather than incurring fees.

Section 16. Notices.

We will send any legal notices under these TOU, including notices required by law, to the email address associated with you under your Standard Terms or your Azure Subscription through which you have accessed these Services. You are responsible for keeping your contact information up to date. Notices provided to you via email will be deemed given and received on the transmission date of the email. If you do not consent to receive notices electronically, you must stop using the Services.

Section 17. Compliance with laws.

You must comply with all laws and regulations applicable to you and your End Users’ use of Services, including laws related to privacy, data protection, and U.S. export laws.

Section 18. Miscellaneous.

 

  • (a) Assignment. You may not assign or delegate any rights or obligations under these TOU, including in connection with a change of control, without Microsoft's prior written consent. Any purported assignment and delegation will be ineffective. Microsoft may freely assign or delegate all rights and obligations under these TOU, fully or partially without notice to you.
  • (b) Force majeure. Microsoft and Company will not be in default if performance is delayed or prevented for reasons beyond its control, so long as it resumes performance as soon as practical.
  • (c) Survival. Sections 2(c), 2(d), 2(e), 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17 and 18 will survive the termination of this TOU.
  • (d) Choice of law and location for resolving disputes. If you are headquartered anywhere other than Europe: (i) Washington State law governs the interpretation of these TOU and applies to claims for breach, regardless of conflict of laws principles; and (ii) you and we irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state or federal courts in King County, Washington, USA, for all disputes arising out of or relating to these TOU. If you are headquartered in Europe: (i) the laws of England and Wales govern the interpretation of these TOU and apply to claims for breach, regardless of conflict of laws principles; and (ii) you and we irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts located in London, England, for all disputes arising out of or relating to these TOU. The parties waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens. Process may be served on either party in the manner authorized by applicable law or court rule. In any dispute relating to these TOU, the prevailing party will be entitled to recover reasonable attorneys' fees and costs.
  • (e) Enforceability and interpreting the TOU. All parts of these TOU apply to the maximum extent permitted by law. These TOU, together with your Standard Terms, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding your use of the Services. The Appendix attached hereto to these TOU is fully incorporated herein.
  • (f) No third-party beneficiaries. These TOU are solely for your and our benefit. It is not for the benefit of any other person, except for permitted successors and assigns.
  • (g) No joint venture. The parties are operating as independent contractors, and nothing in these TOU will be construed as creating a partnership, franchise, joint venture, employer-employee or agency relationship.
  • (h) Waiver. Any delay or failure of either party to exercise a right or remedy will not result in a waiver of that, or any other, right or remedy. No waiver will be effective unless made in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the waiving party.
  • (i) Logos; marketing. Except as otherwise agreed to by the parties in writing, neither party will use any logo or trademark of the other party for marketing or any other purpose without the other party's prior written approval.
  • (j) U.S. export jurisdiction. The Services are subject to U.S. export jurisdiction. You must comply with all applicable laws, including the U.S. Export Administration Regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and end-user, end-use and destination restrictions issued by U.S. and other governments.

Appendix to TOU: Grounding with Bing Search and Grounding with Bing Custom Search Use and Display Requirements

The Output will include citations (with hyperlinks to web page results) and, in the case of Grounding with Bing Search, a link to the Bing Search Results Page (together, these are “References”). You must retain and display the References in the exact form provided by Microsoft.

You may only use the Output in Applications that are internet search experiences. An “internet search experience” means the Application displays content that:

  • - Is relevant and responsive to the end user's direct query, or other indication of their search interest and intent (for example, a user-indicated search query).
  • - Helps users find and navigate to the Resources. For example, providing clickable links from hyperlinks in the Application.
  • - Includes a visible indication that the end user is receiving an internet search result. For example, by showing web citations.
  • - Includes any other appropriate measures to ensure your use of the Services does not violate any applicable laws or rights of, or duties or obligations owed by you to, third parties. Consult your legal advisors to determine what measures may be appropriate.

In addition to the restrictions in the TOU, you acknowledge and agree to the following requirements for your use and display of Output resulting from your use of the Services:

1. You must retain the links and attributions to References in the Output without modification, including without limitation retaining the location, description, and linking of the Resources. You must display the Resources near the displayed Output in your Application.

2. When using the Services, you may not, nor may you permit third parties or your End Users to:

  • a. Circumvent technical or programmatic limitations on which AI Models are available to you for use with the Services through the Approved Microsoft Application;
  • b. Use or facilitate the use of the Output to train, evaluate or improve any AI Model, including without limitation your proprietary AI Model, or any new or existing services that you or third parties may offer;
  • c. Use or facilitate the use of the Output for websites where you are restricted by the website from using such Output, including but not limited to, where your crawler has been blocked via robots.txt;
  • d. Display advertising that is not provided by Microsoft;
  • e. Copy, store, or cache the Output or any associated data or content therein;
  • f. Modify the Output, including without limitation omitting or modifying Resources attribution information and URLs associated with the Output, unless required by law or explicitly agreed to by Microsoft; or
  • g. Display content that was not included within any part of the Output in a way that would lead a user to believe that content is part of the Output.