What do you mean by competition? Who else is bidding? If that's the case just search for your target term(s) and have a look at whose ads appear.
yeah, thats what i meant. I have looked before and seen NO other ads for a specific keyword, but then when i submit mine, they dont display mine either.. why would that be? As of yesterday, i discovered how to 100% target the ad to the keyword, thus reducing the CPC (thanks to people on this board).. Also, why should people use this for each keyword?: Widget "widget" [widget] what do the brackets and quotations do?
Check this out for some reasons why you may not be able to see your ad. It can be due to a number of things. If all's good with the account most of the time it end up being a budget thing. I've used all three variations to gauge traffic levels and conversions. Regarding the brackets & quotes they are exact and phrase matching options - see this for the details.