NRS managing director Roger Pratt revealed that more than 70 sites are being monitored in the experiment and, if it proves successful, the first results could be avail-able as early as January.
Like the NRS, the data collected will give publishers an insight into the age and demographic of their readership, as well as the frequency in which the same number of people surfing the net buy their paper.
Pratt said: "We honestly don't know if this approach is going to work, simply because of the ease in which you can switch from one site to another. We want the result to be credible, so we have only used the largest sites."
The survey will ask which sites the reader visits and how frequently. It could in future be extended if successful.
Pratt added: "Audience numbers for the web can be quite volatile due to fashions and content, but if we can get credible results, they will be extremely useful for the industry.
"If all goes well, we will hopefully be able to use these figures to see what percentage of people buying a paper also use the website, in addition to their age and earning power."
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