> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.adpage.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.adpage.io/accountmanagement/container-management/monthly-usage.md).

# Monthly Usage

How your monthly usage is calculated, how to view your usage, and how to investigate a sudden spike.

### How are requests calculated?

With server-side tagging, a single visit to your website generates several types of requests. Not all of them are billed: whether a request counts toward your monthly usage depends on its type.

<table><thead><tr><th width="601">Request type</th><th>Billed</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>DataLayer events sent to your server container (<code>page_view</code>, <code>click</code>, <code>purchase</code>, etc.)</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Script delivery (<code>gtm.js</code>, <code>user-data-minified.js</code>, etc.)</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>Incoming webhooks from your commerce platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, etc.)</td><td>Yes</td></tr><tr><td>AdPage's Data Assistant monitoring (<code>/_tools/monitoring</code>)</td><td>No</td></tr><tr><td>Requests from your server container to GA4, Meta, Google Ads, etc.</td><td>No</td></tr></tbody></table>

**Priced by volume. Not by seat.** Your bill follows your request count. Send your data to as many platforms as you like, at no extra cost.

#### Example

A visit to a product page may generate the following requests: 1 script load, 1 `page_view` event, 1 `view_item` event. This increments the usage by 3 requests.&#x20;

These events are then added to the AdPage Data Assistant and sent to your server container, which forwards it to GA4, Meta, and Google Ads. None of those requests are added to your usage.

### How to view your monthly usage

Your AdPage dashboards visualizes the monthly usage in your container dashboard. Usage tends to grow gradually as your traffic increases and event types are added, so a trend towards an overrun is usually visible well before it becomes a problem.

<figure><img src="https://1908438300-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2Fvuyv7mcuSvQb9yTkzfeA%2Fuploads%2F7UGcuew8XBY4L0Qz03KG%2Fimage.png?alt=media&#x26;token=f37a2cbf-cd07-4b6b-a217-bed6c43689c1" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### What happens if you exceed your limit

Exceeding the monthly allowance of your plan does not immediately result in your server container being stopped. Instead, a strike is given for that month. Only after a certain amount of strikes (paid: 3, free: 1) is the server container stopped.

{% hint style="warning" %}
When your container is blocked, incoming requests receive a `429 Too Many Requests` status. This means the data is no longer processed and no longer forwarded to your connected platforms. Any conversions and events that occur during that period are lost.
{% endhint %}

### Investigating a sudden spike in usage

A spike in monthly usage without a matching increase in GA4 events or visitors, may be caused by the following:

1. **Bot/scraper traffic:** AdPage increments the monthly usage for every incoming event, before it reaches your server container and GA4. In the reporting of GA4, the events of some visitors may be filtered out causing a discrepancy (under the suspision of it being a bot/scraper)
2. **Requests per visitor:** compare AdPage's request-per-day against GA4's events-per-day for the same period. It may be the case that the number of requests per visitor has increased, due to: script-load frequency (caching), cookie-recovery calls, or newly added tags
3. **Check what changed around the start of the spike.** A new script version, a Cookie Herstel/consent setting change, or a newly published server container version can all change the request ratio overnight

Believe a strike was caused by something outside of your control? Ask your AdPage account manager for an in-depth analysis of your requests.


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