The opportunity verdict

Every keyword in ASO Atlas carries two numbers: a popularity score for demand and a difficulty score for competition. Reading two 0-100 numbers per row across fifty candidates is slow, so we pre-compute the tradeoff into a single plain-language verdict. This article explains how the verdict is decided, what each label means, and, most importantly, what to do when you see one.

How the verdict is decided

The verdict is a set of rules applied in order, so a keyword always gets exactly one label:

1. No popularity data at all? Not enough data.
2. Popularity below 25? Low demand, regardless of difficulty. No demand means no upside.
3. Difficulty 65 or higher? Hard to rank, regardless of demand. The searches exist, but you are unlikely to be seen for them.
4. Popularity 55 or higher with difficulty under 45? Strong opportunity. The rare combination of real demand and beatable competition.
5. Difficulty under 55? Worth targeting. Solid demand, competition you can realistically take on.
6. Everything else lands in Competitive: meaningful demand, but a contested middle where difficulty sits in the high 50s to low 60s.

If a keyword has a popularity score but no difficulty score yet, the verdict assumes a middling difficulty until the real number is computed, so a fresh keyword can shift verdict once its competition is measured.

The six verdicts and what to do

Verdict	Badge	What it means	What to do
Strong opportunity	Green	High demand, beatable competition	Target it now. Give it your best metadata real estate
Worth targeting	Green	Solid demand, winnable field	Target it, with realistic expectations on how fast you climb
Competitive	Amber	Real demand, crowded field	Only if you are established, or willing to fight for months
Hard to rank	Red	Strong, entrenched apps dominate	Skip it for now, revisit when your app is stronger
Low demand	Gray	Few people search this	Skip, unless it is a hyper-relevant niche phrase
Not enough data	Gray	Demand could not be estimated yet	Research it and check back once numbers arrive

A few notes on the edge cases. Competitive is not a polite no: an app with a healthy ratings base and download velocity can win these, but a new app will burn months on them. Low demand has one legitimate exception, the ultra-specific phrase that describes exactly your app; ten searches a day that convert at a high rate can still matter to a niche tool. Hard to rank is where head terms live; the right move is usually to plant one in your title as a long-term bet and spend the rest of your characters elsewhere, as covered in how to pick keywords.

Where your current position fits in

The verdict reads the market: demand versus competition, the same for everyone. Your position in the results is the third input, and it changes the action, not the label. A Competitive keyword where you already sit in the top 10 is a position to defend, not a fight to avoid. A Strong opportunity where you rank #120 is a metadata problem to solve first.

For tracked apps, Best opportunities does this folding for you: it blends demand, difficulty and your current position into a ranked list, so keywords where you have both a winnable market and room to climb float to the top. Think of the verdict as the per-keyword judgment and Best opportunities as the portfolio-level answer to "what should I work on next?".

The free tool's compact verdict

The free keyword checker uses a shorter, three-word scale: Take, Tight or Skip, based on difficulty alone. Roughly: Take corresponds to the green verdicts, Tight to Competitive, and Skip to Hard to rank. It is a quick read for a single lookup; once you are signed in, the full six-label verdict adds the demand side and the data-quality states, which is what you want when comparing a list of candidates.

A verdict is a prior, not a promise

The verdict compresses two measurements into a starting judgment. It cannot see the one thing that decides whether a ranking converts: relevance. A Strong opportunity that mismatches your app wins you impressions that never become installs, and the store notices. Before any keyword goes into your metadata, apply your own test from how to pick keywords: would someone typing this phrase actually want your app? The verdict tells you where the odds are good. You still decide whether the bet belongs in your portfolio.