📋 Overview
In Search Atlas, keyword tracking is managed through the Rank Tracker. Every keyword you track is counted against your account's keyword quota — but there is a critical detail that surprises many users: tracking the same keyword in multiple countries counts as a separate quota unit for each country. This article explains how quota works, why it depletes faster than you expect, and how to avoid running out.
🌐 How Multi-Country Tracking Consumes Quota
When you add a keyword to the Rank Tracker, you must select a target country. Each unique combination of keyword + country is treated as one tracked keyword and deducted from your quota.
Here is a practical example:
- You want to track 20 keywords across 5 countries (e.g., UK, US, Canada, Australia, Germany).
- That is 20 keywords × 5 countries = 100 quota units consumed, not 20.
- If your quota was nearly full, adding those 100 units could exceed your limit — even though you are only adding 20 keyword terms.
This is the most common reason customers believe they are adding only a small number of keywords but instantly exhaust their quota.
⚙️ How Keyword Quota Is Calculated
Your keyword quota is an account-level limit — it is shared across all projects, all clients, and all countries tracked in your Rank Tracker. There is no separate quota pool per country or per project.
Each quota unit is consumed when:
- A keyword is added to the Rank Tracker for a specific country.
- A keyword is duplicated across multiple countries for the same project.
- A keyword is added for a new client project in an additional country.
Quota is not consumed by simply searching for or viewing keyword data outside of the Rank Tracker. Only actively tracked keywords in the Rank Tracker count against your limit.
🔍 Why Your Quota Looks Wrong: Worked Examples
Scenario 1: Your quota is maxed out and you cannot add more keywords
Your account has reached its maximum limit. Even adding a single keyword in one country is not possible until you free up space. To resolve this, open the Rank Tracker, review your tracked keywords, and remove keywords that are no longer needed — especially any that are tracked across multiple countries you are not actively using. Removing one keyword tracked in five countries frees five quota units.
Scenario 2: You have remaining quota but cannot add a batch of keywords
This almost always means the batch of keywords is being added across multiple countries. For example, 50 keyword terms tracked across 5 countries equals 250 quota units — not 50. Check how many countries are selected when adding keywords in bulk, and reduce the number of countries if you are close to your limit.
✅ Best Practices for Managing Keyword Quota
- Audit regularly: Periodically review all tracked keywords in the Rank Tracker and remove any that are no longer providing value.
- Prioritize countries: Only track keywords in the countries that are directly relevant to your active campaigns.
- Plan before adding in bulk: Before adding a large keyword list, multiply the number of keyword terms by the number of countries selected to estimate the quota impact.
- Remove before adding: If you are near your quota limit, remove unused keyword-country combinations before adding new ones.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.