With search advertising, what are advertisers competing with each other for?

In search advertising, advertisers primarily compete for ad position. This refers to where their ad appears on the search engine results page (SERP) relative to other ads and organic results. A higher ad position generally leads to greater visibility and a higher likelihood of clicks. While a higher conversion rate and the number of ad clicks are desirable outcomes, they are results of effective ad campaigns, not what advertisers directly compete for in the auction. Advertisers bid on keywords and optimize their ad quality to win better ad positions, which then influences clicks and conversions.