Academy • Concepts
What Is Search Momentum?
Quick definition
Search momentum describes how quickly a search term is rising or falling in marketplace demand across time. It’s not just about how big the search volume is today – it’s about direction and speed.
- Positive momentum: demand is climbing week over week.
- Flat momentum: demand is stable, no real movement.
- Negative momentum: demand is clearly slowing down.
Why marketplace sellers should care
Most people focus only on “big” terms by volume. The problem: big terms are often mature or saturated. Momentum adds timing to the picture.
- High volume + flat momentum → usually late and crowded.
- Moderate volume + strong rising momentum → early-stage opportunity.
That’s why momentum is so valuable: it helps you see the early part of the curve, not just the top.
How Uptrend Hunter thinks about momentum
Uptrend Hunter analyzes multiple weeks of marketplace search data and looks at:
- Week-over-week direction (is rank improving, flat, or slipping?)
- How big the improvement is over the full range
- Whether the move is consistent or just a one-week spike
- Acceleration or slowdown over time
- Seasonal patterns and recurring waves
When those signals line up in a sustained uptrend, the term behaves like a strong momentum candidate. When they are mixed or weak, the momentum is low.
How to use search momentum in practice
Product decisions
- Use rising momentum to validate new product ideas.
- Avoid ideas where momentum is flat or clearly negative.
- Check if the trend is seasonal or building into something longer-term.
PPC decisions
- Increase bids on terms that show strong, consistent momentum.
- Reduce spend on terms that are clearly losing demand.
- Build ad groups around rising clusters instead of static “big” terms.
Reading momentum alongside rank
A term that improves from rank 500,000 → 80,000 over your selected range is more interesting than a term stuck around 120,000 → 110,000.
- Look for big total improvement (start rank − end rank).
- Check that the end rank lands in a meaningful zone (not still extremely deep).
- Open the chart to confirm it’s a trend, not just a noisy spike.
Momentum + chart shape together tell you whether this is a real wave or just random noise.
Connecting this with the rest of the tool
In practice, you’ll combine momentum with filters and charts:
- Use Include to lock into a product family or niche.
- Use Exclude to remove irrelevant clusters.
- Use total improvement and end rank to shortlist candidates.
- Use the chart to decide if the move is clean enough to act on.
Once you see momentum as “direction + speed of demand”, the whole table becomes easier to read.