Coverage limitations and gaps

InstantMarkets covers a large and growing number of government agencies, but no aggregator has 100% coverage of all public procurement. Here's an honest look at where gaps exist and why.

Why gaps exist

Government procurement is highly decentralized in the United States. There is no single national system for state and local bids — each of the 50 states, thousands of counties, tens of thousands of municipalities, and countless special districts may maintain its own procurement portal, or use one of dozens of third-party platforms.

This means coverage is a continuous effort, not a one-time task.

Common coverage gaps

Small and rural agencies — Agencies with low posting volume or that publish bids informally (e.g., only in a local newspaper or on a basic webpage without a structured feed) are harder to monitor consistently.

Agencies on proprietary platforms — Some agencies use procurement software that restricts automated data access. Coverage for these agencies may be partial or delayed.

Emergency and sole-source procurements — These are often not publicly posted in the same way as competitive solicitations, and may not appear in InstantMarkets.

Very recently added agencies — Newly onboarded agencies may have a backfill lag of a few weeks before historical data is fully indexed.

How to report a missing agency

If you know of a specific agency that posts public bids but isn't appearing in InstantMarkets, please let us know:

1. Go to the Support page.
2. Include the agency name, state, and a link to their procurement portal if you have one.

We prioritize coverage additions based on user requests.

InstantMarkets' relationship to government agencies

InstantMarkets is an independent aggregation service. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or officially connected to any government agency. We surface publicly available information — always refer to the source agency portal for the authoritative, official version of any solicitation.