Last April, one of the ad tech industry’s most ambitious undertakings announced it was taking an important attempt to mitigate a potentially cataclysmic moment when Google will phase out third-party cookies next year. It was a move that initially appeared to look like the next chapter in an improbable story of industry collaboration. But with many things in media, the reality has proved to be more complicated. This is the fifth story in a Digiday series that will look at the people and companies at the center of media's defining storylines. Read more below.

• Prebid has taken matters into its own hands as the steward of the identifier originally developed by The Trade Desk.
• As competition between sports and esports heats up, traditional sports teams make headway into gaming.
• Conversations around DE&I have slowed down since the summer of 2020. But a POC, Gen Z-led media company says there has been some lasting change made.
• The entertainment and creator industries want the blockchain to be a reward for viewers engaging with content. More in this rundown.