A new MediaPost article reports that Nielsen is announcing major changes to its online and mobile audience measurement divisions--"aimed at providing advertisers with a "360-degree" read on who their targets are, how they are consuming media, and which devices to reach them on. The changes are built on the formation of two separate, but fully cooperative divisions--Nielsen Online and Nielsen Mobile."

There's more here than simple hit counting. According to the report, Nielsen Mobile combines bill-scraping data with insights from a panel of more than 40,000 mobile users to give advertisers, mobile service carriers and content providers a read on "what mobile users are actually doing with their phones and their attitudes toward the media content on them."

Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of Mobile Media, Nielsen Mobile, said in the article that the two departments will collaborate to better answer questions like "How many males ages 25-34 visited my Web site via their desktop and mobile phone?" and "Which medium is best for reaching Hispanic sports fans on Thursday evenings?"

The moves build on earlier announcements from Nielsen about its merger with Telephia and its cell phone tracking initiatives.

Nielsen's New Online, Mobile Units Promise 360-Degree Insights [MediaPost]