> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Harvest Queue (ready to promote), Amazon Ads > Auto-campaign search terms with >2 orders + ROAS > target that have not yet been promoted to manual targeting. Promote weekly. How to read it, why it matte... **Metrics type:** [Key Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Ad Platform](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > Auto-campaign search terms with >2 orders + ROAS > target that have not yet been promoted to manual targeting. Promote weekly. ## At a glance > List of **search terms found by Auto Targeting campaigns that converted well** (≥2 orders + ROAS > target) and have NOT yet been promoted to manual keyword targeting. The structured-harvest workflow, auto-campaigns *discover* converting queries; manual campaigns *exploit* them at tighter bids. Promoting weekly is the canonical Amazon Ads optimisation rhythm. Industry rule: a healthy account harvests 5-15 candidates per week. | | | | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **The formula** | Filter Auto-campaign search terms over the last 7 days where: (a) `attributedConversions14d >= 2`, (b) `ROAS > target_ROAS` (default 3×, configurable), (c) the term is NOT already a manual keyword in any campaign in the same account. The unpromoted-status check is the key, prevents re-flagging already-harvested terms. | | **Reports API endpoint** | `POST /reporting/reports` with `reportTypeId=spSearchTerm` filtered to Auto campaigns. Plus `GET /sp/keywords` to enumerate already-promoted manual keywords (for the de-duplication). | | **What "promote" means** | Add the search term as an exact-match or phrase-match keyword to a manual Sponsored Products campaign, then reduce the auto campaign's bid on that term (or add it as a campaign-negative on the auto campaign so the auto stops competing with the manual). | | **ACOS vs ROAS framing** | The card filters on ROAS > 3× by default (= ACOS \< 33%). Threshold is account-configurable; some accounts use 4× (ACOS \< 25%) for tighter discipline. | | **Attribution model** | Last-click within Amazon ecosystem, 14-day click window. Same as ACOS / ROAS calculations. | | **Brand vs non-brand keyword scope** | The card includes both. **Branded harvests are usually unwanted**, promoting a branded query you already win organically just costs you more per click. Filter branded out using [Branded Harvest Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/branded-harvest-candidates). The non-branded harvest is the high-value list ([Non-Branded Harvest Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/non-branded-harvest-candidates)). | | **Sponsored Products vs Brands vs Display vs DSP** | The harvest workflow is specific to Sponsored Products (SP). SB, SD, DSP don't have the same auto-discovery pattern; their targeting is set up-front. | | **Currency** | Account currency only. | | **Amazon-only attribution gap** | The candidate list is generated from on-Amazon click + conversion data. Not affected by the cross-platform attribution gap. | | **Time window** | `7D`. Weekly rhythm matches the recommended harvest cadence. | | **Alert trigger** | `>0 candidates (weekly review)`. Any non-zero count is the signal that a harvest sweep is overdue. | | **Roles** | owner, marketing, agency | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your Amazon Ads data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A US home-goods seller, weekly harvest review on 12 Apr 26 covering the 7 days from 06 Apr to 12 Apr. The card surfaces 8 candidates. | Search term (from Auto campaign) | Orders (7D) | Spend | Sales | ROAS | Branded? | Action | | -------------------------------------- | ----------- | ----- | ----- | ----- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------- | | **"cooling memory foam pillow"** | 6 | \$48 | \$282 | 5.9× | non-branded | Promote, exact match. | | **"king size cooling pillow"** | 4 | \$36 | \$176 | 4.9× | non-branded | Promote, exact match. | | **"hot sleeper pillow"** | 5 | \$42 | \$215 | 5.1× | non-branded | Promote, phrase match. | | **"bamboo pillow case set"** | 3 | \$28 | \$112 | 4.0× | non-branded | Promote, exact match. | | **"breathable mattress topper"** | 3 | \$35 | \$135 | 3.9× | non-branded | Promote, phrase match. | | **"\[brand-name] memory foam pillow"** | 4 | \$12 | \$176 | 14.7× | **branded** | Skip, already winning organically. | | **"down alternative pillow"** | 2 | \$24 | \$76 | 3.2× | non-branded | Promote, exact match (just over threshold). | | **"pillow for side sleepers"** | 2 | \$19 | \$58 | 3.1× | non-branded | Promote, exact match (marginal). | What a paid-acquisition lead does with this: 1. **The 7 non-branded candidates take \~15 minutes to promote.** Add each as an exact or phrase keyword to a manual SP campaign with a starting bid 10-20% below the auto-campaign's average CPC. Then add the term as a campaign-level negative on the auto campaign so the auto stops competing. 2. **The branded candidate is intentionally skipped.** Promoting "\[brand-name] memory foam pillow" costs more per click than letting it convert organically. **Branded harvests are a trap**, they inflate ACOS / ROAS visibly while not adding incremental revenue. 3. **Weekly cadence matters because the harvest window is short.** A converting auto-term not promoted within 14 days starts to lose its statistical edge as the auto campaign's bid optimises elsewhere. The 7-day rhythm catches them while the signal is fresh. 4. **The 3.0× ROAS threshold is generous.** Some accounts tighten to 4×; others extend to 2.5× to be more aggressive about harvesting. The right threshold equals your category's `target_ROAS` (= 1 / target\_ACOS). 5. **Promoting + auto-pause is the full pattern**, just promoting the keyword doubles your spend on the term (auto + manual both bid). Adding the auto-side negative is the second half. Quick sanity tests: * 5-15 candidates per week = healthy auto-campaign discovery cadence. * 0 candidates: either the auto campaigns are too restrictive (loosen targeting) or the team is harvesting daily already. * 30+ candidates: backlog of unharvested wins. A one-time bulk sweep is needed; resume weekly after. * Same terms reappearing weekly: someone is promoting them but not adding the auto-side negative, auto and manual are competing. * Mostly branded candidates: the auto campaigns are over-indexed on branded discovery; tighten audience signals. ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with Harvest Queue | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [Branded Harvest Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/branded-harvest-candidates) | The split, branded harvests are usually NOT what you want to promote. | | [Non-Branded Harvest Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/non-branded-harvest-candidates) | The high-value half of the queue. | | [Search Terms Ready to Promote](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/search-terms-ready-to-promote) | An adjacent view of the same workflow. | | [Harvest Velocity Trend](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/harvest-velocity-trend) | Weekly cadence health, are you keeping up with the discovery rate? | | [Oldest Unpromoted Harvest Term](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/oldest-unpromoted-harvest-term) | The longest-pending candidate, an SLA check on the harvest workflow. | | [Promotion Conversion Lift](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/promotion-conversion-lift) | Does promoting actually improve ROAS, or are auto and manual identical? | | [Search Terms Report](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/search-terms-report) | The full search-term universe (not just harvest candidates). | | [Negative-Keyword Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/negative-keyword-candidates) | The opposite end of the workbench, terms to negate, not promote. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in Amazon Ads Console:** [Amazon Ads Console > Campaign Manager > \[Auto Campaign\] > Search Terms tab](https://advertising.amazon.com/cm), the Search Terms tab on any Auto campaign shows discovered queries with conversion data. Sort by Orders descending and filter to ROAS > 3 to manually replicate this card. [Amazon Ads Console > Recommendations](https://advertising.amazon.com/recommendations). Amazon's "Add as keyword" suggestions overlap heavily with this card but use Amazon's own threshold (typically more permissive). Useful as a cross-check. [Amazon Ads Console > Reports > Sponsored Products > Search Term Report](https://advertising.amazon.com/reports), the canonical search-term-level report. Filter to Auto campaigns + Orders >= 2 + ACOS \< target. **Why our number may legitimately differ from Amazon's "Recommendations":** | Reason | Direction of divergence | Why it happens | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Threshold definition**. Amazon's recommendations use a proprietary scoring model; this card uses explicit thresholds (≥2 orders, ROAS > target). | Amazon may suggest more candidates (lower-bar scoring) or different ones. | Amazon's model includes click-volume and CTR signals; this card uses outcome-only signals. | | **De-duplication scope**. This card excludes terms already manual-keyworded anywhere in the account; Amazon's UI may suggest adding to a different campaign even if already promoted. | This card surfaces fewer candidates. | Intentional, avoids re-promoting. | | **Branded filter**. This card surfaces both branded and non-branded; the branded list is shown but flagged as skip-recommended. | Same. | Both views are available. | | **Timezone**. Both use **PT (Pacific)**. | None. | Amazon's reporting backend is in Seattle. | | **Report-generation latency** (1-3 hours). | Today's queue is provisional for \~24h. | Reports batch-build hourly. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ---------------------------------------------- | | [`amazon_sp.amzn_sp_total_sales`](/nerve-centre/amazon_sp/amzn_sp_total_sales) | A successful harvest typically lifts attributed revenue without raising spend (manual bids are tighter than auto). | None expected. | | [`google_ads.gads_search_terms`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/google-ads/search-terms-report) | Cross-platform analogue. Promoting auto-discovered terms is a Google-Ads PMax pattern too. | Independent platforms; no direct relationship. | | [`shopify.total_revenue`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/total-revenue) | No relationship. | N/A. |
Edge cases and rare reconciliation issues * **Auto campaign types**: Amazon has four auto-targeting types (close match, loose match, substitutes, complements). The card aggregates across all four; the candidate's source type is shown in the table. * **Match-type promotion**: the card recommends exact-match for high-confidence terms, phrase-match for marginal. The recommendation logic is heuristic; manual override expected. * **Branded filter**: the brand string is auto-detected from the account's Brand Registry name. If the merchant has multiple brand names, configure additional terms in connector settings. * **De-duplication**: terms already added as keyword targets are excluded across the entire account, including different campaign groups. This is the canonical interpretation; some practitioners want per-campaign uniqueness instead. * **Cross-marketplace**: each Amazon Advertising account has its own auto-discovery; the harvest queue is per-account.
## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is the harvest workflow important?** Auto campaigns are good at *discovering* converting search terms, but they bid generically (Amazon optimises across all auto-discovered queries). Manual campaigns let you bid tighter on the proven winners. The harvest workflow is the structured promotion of auto-discoveries into more efficient manual targeting. **Skipping this loop costs 10-25% of attributable ROAS** in mature accounts. **Should I promote at exact-match or phrase-match?** **Exact** for high-confidence terms (>3 orders, ROAS comfortably above target). **Phrase** for marginal candidates where you want to capture variants while maintaining some control. Avoid broad-match on harvest, broad just recreates the auto-campaign discovery loop you already have. **Why exclude branded harvest candidates?** Promoting branded queries you'd win organically just costs more per click. People searching your brand name were going to buy. The 14× ROAS on branded harvest is a vanity number, you're paying Amazon to defend traffic you already had. Use [Branded Harvest Candidates](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/amazon-ads/branded-harvest-candidates) only for competitor-defence campaigns. **The threshold of 2 orders + ROAS > 3×, why these numbers?** 2 orders is the minimum statistical signal (1 order is noise; 2+ shows the term is reliably converting). ROAS > 3× is a generous threshold that ensures the harvested keyword will be profitable. **Tune both numbers to your category**: high-margin categories can promote at ROAS 2×; thin-margin categories need 4× or higher. **Why do candidates take 7 days to appear?** Amazon's 14-day click attribution window means terms need \~7-10 days of activity before the conversion signal is reliable. Promoting earlier risks adding keywords that haven't proven themselves; the 7D window is the conservative compromise. **My harvest queue is empty every week, is that bad?** Probably means: (a) Auto campaigns are too restrictive (turn on broader match types). (b) Auto campaign budget is too small to discover. (c) Your team is harvesting daily already. (d) You've already promoted everything obvious. The first three are fixable; the fourth is a healthy mature state. **My queue has 50+ candidates, should I bulk-promote all of them?** Yes, but in two waves. (1) **First wave**: top 10-15 by ROAS × order-count product. These are the highest-confidence wins. (2) **Second wave**: the rest, after first wave's manual campaigns settle (give them 14 days). Bulk-promoting all 50 simultaneously creates auto-vs-manual competition chaos. **Should I always pause the auto campaign once I've harvested?** No. Auto campaigns continue to discover new terms. The pattern is: harvest a term → add it as a manual keyword → add the harvested term as a campaign-level negative on the auto campaign. The auto keeps discovering, the manual exploits. **Can I trust the candidate ROAS for promotion decisions?** Mostly. The 7-day data is fairly stable (the 14d attribution window means a few late-landing conversions could improve ROAS further). **For marginal candidates (ROAS 3.0-3.5×)**, wait an extra week before promoting; for clear winners (ROAS > 5×), promote immediately. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *Harvest Queue (ready to promote)* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across Amazon Ads and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.