The appointment of Ipsos follows a consultation with the industry and a tender process.

UKOM announced in November it would name a new supplier to take up the contract after Comscore, which has been the body’s online measurement partner since 2012.  

UKOM data is currently reported monthly. From January 2021, for the first time, it will also include day of the week and time of day over a broader range of audience segmentation.

Additionally, for the first time UKOM-endorsed data will be able to measure the audience of online advertising campaigns. In future, the body aims to endorse measurement for online audiences on smart TVs and streamed and downloaded online audio, areas it said could be facilitated through Ipsos’s MediaCell passive meter technology.

The industry body said the appointment means that UKOM-endorsed data will recognise the role of mobile devices in accessing internet content.

Ian Dowds, chief executive at UKOM, said: "We recognise a growing desire from publishers, agencies and marketers for a more joined-up view of online audiences in the UK. What set the Ipsos approach apart was its single-source approach to building, via rigorous Establishment Survey, a high-quality panel of 10,000 consumers willing to participate in research and install meters on multiple devices."

Ipsos’s methodology measures the individual consumer, added Dowds, rather than separate devices or browsers.

Liz Landy, global head of audience measurement at Ipsos, said: "We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with the industry to build a measurement system that sets the global benchmark for understanding online audience behaviour, both now and in the future."