I think the best way is immitating the way they do it themselves through their AJAX calls.
They call this URL and extract the information through XML deserialization.
XML: http://www.bing.com/HPImageArchive.aspx?format=xml&idx=0&n=1&mkt=en-US
JSON: http://www.bing.com/HPImageArchive.aspx?format=js&idx=0&n=1&mkt=en-US
RSS: http://www.bing.com/HPImageArchive.aspx?format=rss&idx=0&n=1&mkt=en-US
The mkt
attribute can obviously be changed to a different region than ´en-US´, but can also be opted out of entirely if you don’t care about a specific region.
Note that the _1366x768.jpg
suffix that is added to the image names appears to be modifiable into different resolutions (like _1920x1080.jpg
for full HD and possibly others).
Here’s a dump of the data as of 9/28/2013, in XML format.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <images> <image> <startdate>20130928</startdate> <fullstartdate>201309280000</fullstartdate> <enddate>20130929</enddate> <url>/az/hprichbg/rb/LakeTurkana_EN-US15976511099_1366x768.jpg</url> <urlBase>/az/hprichbg/rb/LakeTurkana_EN-US15976511099</urlBase> <copyright>Lava rock pools at the southern end of Lake Turkana, in Kenya (© Nigel Pavitt/Corbis)</copyright> <copyrightlink>http://www.bing.com/search?q=Lake+Turkana%2C+Kenya&form=hpcapt</copyrightlink> <drk>1</drk> <top>1</top> <bot>1</bot> <hotspots> <hotspot> <desc>These are the southern reaches of a lake...</desc> <link>http://www.bing.com/maps/?v=2&cp=2.794725~37.335197&lvl=7&dir=0&sty=b&q=Lake%20Turkana%2C%20Kenya&form=hphot1</link> <query>That stretches for 180 miles, up into another country</query> <LocX>15</LocX> <LocY>33</LocY> </hotspot> <hotspot> <desc>This body of water was once called the Jade Sea.</desc> <link>http://www.bing.com/search?q=green+algae&form=hphot2</link> <query>What gives the water here its sometimes vibrant hue?</query> <LocX>37</LocX> <LocY>42</LocY> </hotspot> <hotspot> <desc>One of the world's most powerful predators lives here.</desc> <link>http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Underwater+Croc+Cams+National+Geographic&FORM=hphot3#view=detail&mid=D25E1909D3514A8732C5D25E1909D3514A8732C5</link> <query>See some rare underwater footage of the beast</query> <LocX>66</LocX> <LocY>33</LocY>