When opportunity knocks, you answer, right? But what if it bings? That's the question Microsoft is posing with its new search engine, Bing. But does the search-dominating Google have the answer? Cool Blue Interactive takes a look at some key differences to find out what's behind Door Number Two:

Bing vs. Google: Search Function

Key Difference: Results Presentation

At the moment, the primary difference between Bing and Google seems to be the way search information is presented:

• Bing has a vivid home page image and expanded search categories, versus Google's white page and search box.
• Bing's "related search" results appear on the top left side of the screen, versus Google's, which are buried at the bottom. Bing also presents more specific alternate search suggestions.
• Bing users like its "hover" function, which previews the result web page when you hover your mouse to the right of the result link.
• Bing seems to present better, more targeted results that mean less clicking and searching.
• While many seem to prefer the look of Bing, Google continues to win users over in result accuracy.
• In August, 1,100 international testers found Google's page-load times were faster than Bing's.

Bing vs. Google: Advertising

Key Difference: Sponsored Link Success

Google Adwords may be the mainstay of online advertising, but Bing is making inroads, fast:

• A User Centric eye-tracking study recently showed that users looked at Bing ads twice as long as they looked at Google Adwords ads.
• Another report found that Bing users were 55% more likely to click on an ad versus Google users.
• Bounce rates for Bing's sponsored links also seem to be about 3-4% lower than for Google ads.
• Bing also seems to do a better job of distinguishing between shopping results and research results, which bodes well for advertisers.
• Yet, Google Adwords has an easier-to-use ad management interface and better ad editing tools.
• Google Adwords can also track conversions better than Bing.

Bing vs. Google: World Domination

Key Difference: Old Habits Die Hard

Ever since its $100 million summer launch, Bing has continued a slow but steady trajectory of nabbing market share each month. The problem? Google maintains an iron hold on the industry, due to these factors:

• Google still holds nearly 70% of market share, compared to only 10% for Bing.
• Google continues to upgrade its search functions with products like Chrome, Social Search and Google Squared.
• Google offers better, more integrated utilities like Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Docs.
• Google also has a larger advantage: the ingrained habits of everyday users who will stay with Google because they're used to it.

While Bing continues to make strides into the search engine arena, they're far from universally accepted–though armed with big advertising bucks, partnerships with everyone from Yahoo to Facebook to Wolfram Alpha to OpenX, and default search engine status on new Microsoft machines, they might end up giving Google a run for their money.