Internet ratings firm NetValue has launched what it claims to be the first system for measuring advertising reach.

NetValue said Ad-Impact would be able to produce profiles of ad campaigns running on the top 400 European websites, and compare socio-demographic profiles of people exposed to campaigns.

The company is selling its service to agencies to provide ad profiling data for their clients wishing to measure the impact of banner ads. So far, AKQA and Profero have signed up.

Jannie Cahill, marketing manager at NetValue, said: "It's about moving away from the obsession with click-through - which is so low at the moment - and looking at the frequency of exposure of online advertising."

The system works by integrating NetValue's internet audience panels, which provides it with reach data on websites, with the company's database software arm, TNS AdNettrack, which automatically captures data on banners running across leading websites.

Ad-Impact is being run in conjunction with NetValue research partner Taylor Nelson Sofres, which runs the Barb TV measurement contract.

Running initially in the UK and France, the service is also planning to launch in Spain and Germany in before the end of the year, and then roll out to the US, Mexico, Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, China, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore.