Third-party service monitoring in Dynatrace tracks the performance of?

The monitoring of third-party services in Dynatrace focuses specifically on tracking the performance of services that are located outside of your direct control, such as Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), external APIs, or other integrated services that your application relies on. This capability is essential for gaining visibility into how these external dependencies impact the overall performance and user experience of your application.

Monitoring third-party services allows you to see how they interact with your system, identify potential bottlenecks, and ensure that they meet the performance expectations that can affect your users. Understanding these interactions can lead to better decision-making regarding service-level agreements and usage of these external resources.

Other options highlight aspects of service monitoring that do not align with the primary purpose of tracking third-party services. For instance, focusing exclusively on services managed internally narrows the scope inappropriately. The mention of frequently used services or specific categories like payment gateways limits the broader context of what third-party service monitoring entails, which is to provide insights into any external services, irrespective of how frequently they are used or their specific type. Thus, the correct answer encapsulates the essence of what third-party service monitoring is designed to do within Dynatrace.