Associated Northcliffe Digital, the digital wing of the Daily Mail and General Trust, has joined with five other leading European newspaper publishers to launch an online advertising network.

The venture - Premium Publishers Online - will cover eight European countries and offer advertisers access to a potential 40.2 million web-users.

AN Digital joins Germany's Tomorrow Focus, 01net/01men from France, Spain’s El Mundo, Dutch Telegraaf Media Groep and Agora Group/Gazeta from Poland in the partnership.

The network, which is due to expand to around ten partners by the end of the year, will be run from a London-based sales office, with other operations in Munich and Hamburg.

"PPO is a response to increasing demand from international media agencies for convenient one-stop internet advertising shopping," said Christoph Schuh, Tomorrow Focus, in a release.

"Well over 10 per cent of our sales revenue in the past year came from international campaigns and the market is growing very fast."