The research firm says that the service was developed in consultation with agencies, publishers and ad networks and will allow clients to understand which networks have the highest penetration of advertising within the sites that Kantar monitors.

Results will be made available to clients as part of the Stradegy service and through Evaliant, which provides clients with competitive intelligence about online ads.

Mark Nesbitt, president of Kantar Media’s intelligence sector, said: “Advertising networks have emerged as a primary channel for internet display advertising, enabling advertisers and agencies to reach both wide audiences and targeted demographic groupings. Ad networks have made it possible for site owners to monetise inventory that hasn’t been sold through direct sales channels.

“But to date, industry- and advertiser-level trending and data analysis for such networks, as well as insight into the source of such display advertising, has not been available. Our reporting will now enable further growth and utilisation of these networks by providing insight into the volume of network advertising running across the 4,500 premier, top-tier and local sites in the US and Canada that Kantar Media monitors.”

The service launched with data collected from 29 online ad networks, and Kantar said that more would be added in the future.