Techniques for scheduling search queries in a computing environment are disclosed. A search query scheduling system associates a first set of queries with a first skew tolerance, the first set of queries scheduled to be performed during a first period, where the first skew tolerance is based on a duration of the first period. The search query scheduling system reschedules a first subset of search queries included in the first set of queries by skewing the first subset of search queries over a first portion of the first period based on the first skew tolerance.