Saved Search Feature: Automate Your RFP Hunt With Bid Banana

Bid Banana's Saved Search feature stores a keyword and every filter you applied as one named search, then re-runs it for you and emails you daily when new open bids match. Set it up once and the platform does the looking — which matters, because the bid you want is rarely posted on the day you happen to go searching for it.

What Problem Does Saved Search Solve?

Most people searching for contracts rebuild the same query every few days. Type the phrase, tick the states, set the industry, scan the first page, close the tab. Repeat on Thursday. It is dull work, and worse, it is unreliable — the week you get busy is the week you miss a deadline.

A saved search removes both problems at once. Your search criteria are stored, so nothing needs rebuilding, and the monitoring becomes automatic rather than something you have to remember.

How Do I Save a Search?

1. Run a search from the Search tab on the keyword phrase you want to track.
2. Apply your filters on the results page — state, agency, NAICS code, industry, solicitation type, closing window.
3. Check the first page of results. Whatever is on screen is what gets saved, so it is worth getting right before you continue.
4. Click Saved — the bell button at the top right of your results, next to the sort control.
5. Under Save this search your current query is quoted back to you. Type a name and click Save search.

It appears immediately under Your saved searches in the same menu, and the Saved button carries a count so you can see how many you have running without opening it.

What Exactly Gets Saved?

The keyword and the filters together. That includes anything clever you did in the search box — quoted phrases, exclusions with a minus sign, OR operators — alongside your state, agency, NAICS code, industry, type and closing date selections. You never retype a complex query again.

◆ NOTE: Saved searches cover open bids only. The Saved menu doesn't appear in Closed bids or Award data, since those records aren't accepting submissions and so can't produce a deadline you might miss. To keep an individual closed bid or award record, save it to Favorites with the banana icon instead.

Where Do I Find My Saved Searches?

Two places, for two different jobs:

• The Saved menu on any results page — for running one quickly. Click a name and it runs.
• Account Settings > Saved Searches — for managing them. Reach it from the account icon in the navigation bar, or from Manage all at the bottom of the Saved menu.

On the management page each search appears as a card showing its name, the keyword in quotation marks, the filters it carries, and its email schedule — something like Daily email at 12 PM ET · Open bids. Each card offers Run search, Rename and a delete control, and New saved search sits at the top.

💡 Tip: Rename changes the label, not the search behind it. To change the keyword or filters, run a corrected version from the Search tab, save that, and delete the old one.

When Do the Daily Emails Arrive?

At a time you choose. The top of the Saved Searches page reads "[n] searches emailing you daily at…" with a time control beside it, and that setting applies to every saved search on your account. All your alerts land together in one predictable slot rather than trickling in through the day.

Emails go to the address on your Bid Banana account, and only when there is genuinely something new to report — a quiet day produces no email rather than an empty one.

💡 Tip: Pick a delivery time that matches how you work. First thing gets the alert into your morning triage, which you can work through on your phone in the Bid Banana mobile app; late afternoon gives you a quieter moment to actually read it.

How Many Saved Searches Should I Have?

Enough to cover each distinct thing you sell, in each territory you serve — usually a handful rather than dozens. Several narrow searches beat one broad one: a tight search produces a short email you actually act on, while a catch-all produces a long list you quietly start ignoring after a fortnight.

Name them so they make sense in an email subject line six months from now. Service plus territory scales well: IT Services — Texas, Janitorial — Northeast, Grounds Maintenance — School Districts.

Two things worth knowing before you build out a set. Saved searches cover open bids only — What Is Bid Status? explains why closed bids and award data can't produce an alert. And if the emails never arrive, check that the address on your account is verified; an unverified email is the usual culprit.

Let the Search Run Itself

In procurement, timing decides more outcomes than polish does. A saved search means the opportunity finds you on the day it posts rather than the week you remember to look. Bid Banana covers more than 1.6 million bids and awarded contracts across all 50 states, updated daily, from $49.99 a month or $479.99 a year. Start your 7-day free trial and set up your first one in about two minutes.