Daily September 28

As signals that show how people interact digitally disappear, Google is steering advertisers away from measuring ad performance based on what people clicked on last. But the company could have an uphill battle when it comes to convincing some advertisers that its shift to an approach using analytical models to gauge ad results is better. Read more below.

• For all its hype over privacy-protective ad measurement, some digital ad execs said Google’s new methods require more data and could be a privacy step backward.
• The collegiate esports space is not as streamlined as traditional college sports but could face changes as it is administered by the all-powerful and overarching NCAA.
• BDG has been in the business of acquiring multiple brands. At DPS, the media company broke down how it created a blueprint to establish a portfolio of brands. More in this Digiday+ case study.
• With the continued pandemic due to the variants, marketers and agency execs expect nostalgia marketing to continue as people want to harken back to simpler times. More in this week’s Digiday+ Marketing Briefing.
• Leah Finnegan is returning to Gawker as its editor-in-chief hoping to rebuild the newsroom without the misogyny and only some of the snark.
• Alyson Shontell discusses bringing her digital media experience to a legacy publisher, her goals to ‘turbo-charge’ its subscriptions business and use of data, and what it’s like to be the first woman to take on the role.