Market Signal versus Qualified Opportunity
These are the two record classes on this platform. Confusing them is the most consequential mistake a reader can make here, so Ponte separates them structurally rather than by labelling.
This is an explanation Ponte wrote, not a record Ponte observed. Figures quoted in it are counted from the register at the time you load the page. Last revised 9 Sep 2026.
The rule
A Market Signal is never a Qualified Opportunity. Qualified Opportunities are a member's own submissions, published only after Ponte's qualification process, and the two registers are never blended.
Where each one comes from
A Market Signal originates outside Ponte. Somebody stated a commercial intention in public, Ponte observed it, structured it and restated it. Ponte has no relationship with that party and makes no claim about them.
A Qualified Opportunity originates inside Ponte. A member submits their own requirement or offer and works through Ponte's qualification process, which asks for the facts a counterparty needs before they can make an informed first relevance decision. It is published only once it reaches that standard.
What each one establishes
The difference is what Ponte is willing to stand behind.
- Market Signal — Ponte established that the statement was made, and when. Nothing about the party, and nothing about whether it is still open.
- Qualified Opportunity — Ponte established the member's identity, the completeness of the requirement, and that it met the publication standard.
Why only one is public
Every page in Ponte's public discovery layer is built from Market Signals and the observed service directory. Qualified Opportunities are not indexable, are disallowed to crawlers, and appear on no public page.
That is deliberate on both sides. A Market Signal names nobody, so publishing it exposes nobody. A Qualified Opportunity carries a member's own commercial position and their identity, so it stays inside the product.
Moving from one to the other
A Market Signal never becomes a Qualified Opportunity — the record does not change status, because it belongs to somebody else. What a member can do is ask Ponte to investigate a signal: to try to establish whether the requirement is still open and who is behind it. That may produce the member's own Opportunity, which is a new record with a different origin.
Sources
Where this guide relies on somebody else’s authority, it says so and links to them rather than restating their work.
- ITC — SME competitiveness and market access — The International Trade Centre's work on connecting SMEs to international markets, for context on why verification standards differ between record classes.
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