Hot take:
By Elizabeth Greene · July 13, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Hot take:
SQP is becoming a crutch.
A keyword shows up in Search Query Performance?
Everyone gets excited.
A keyword does not show up?
Everyone assumes the opportunity is not there.
That logic is lazy.
SQP does not show you every relevant search term with real demand.
It shows you the data Amazon decided to surface for your brand during that period.
Those are not the same thing.
And this is where brands leave money on the table.
They treat one report like the entire market.
Then they wonder why growth stalls.
I have seen highly relevant keywords with meaningful search volume get ignored for months.
Not because they were bad targets.
Not because shoppers were not searching for them.
Because they never appeared in SQP.
That is it.
No data in the report.
No discussion.
No test.
No growth.
SQP is useful for understanding where your brand already has visibility.
It is not a complete map of where demand exists.
You still need external search-volume data.
You still need relevance checks.
You still need judgment.
A keyword does not become valuable because SQP showed it.
And it does not become irrelevant because SQP missed it.
Use SQP as evidence.
Not permission.