If you add or remove an assignment via manage assignments from an app/update but the binaries have not changed, there is no indication in the publishing report that this has occurred.
With Configman apps/updates all deployment related activities occur outside of PMPC but with the addition of InTune apps/updates, now deployments can be managed through assignments. Those are the kinds of updates to the publisher configuration that result in "changes" occuring in your environment and including this info in the publishing report will help keep everyone subscribed to the report up to date.