By Gareth Walton, Head of EMEA Sales at Nextdoor
For years, improving ad performance depended on testing, iteration and gradual refinement. Brands would launch campaigns, monitor results and adjust activity over time, often with significant uncertainty around what would actually drive engagement. AI has changed that process. Instead of relying on assumptions or broad targeting, advertisers can now use machine learning to optimise campaigns in real time, helping budgets work harder from the outset.
One of the clearest examples of this shift is through AI tools, including click optimisation. Rather than simply maximising impressions or reach, advertisers are increasingly focused on measurable engagement and directing spend towards activity most likely to generate action. Using AI, campaigns can automatically prioritise the placements, formats and audiences most likely to drive clicks and engagement. Instead of waiting days or weeks to understand performance, AI can continuously learn and adapt while campaigns are running, marking a huge transformation of the operating landscape.
From broad targeting to real-time relevance
Recent launches from Nextdoor reflect this shift. Its AI-powered click optimisation uses machine learning to enable campaigns to adjust in real time, prioritising placements and formats that are most likely to drive engagement. Rather than relying on fixed assumptions about what will perform best, the technology responds dynamically to live user behaviour and interaction patterns as campaigns run.
The impact has been significant. During beta testing, advertisers recorded a median increase of more than 78% in click-through rates compared to traditional CPM bidding models, while median cost-per-click fell by 66% on average. In practical terms, this meant brands were able to generate three times more clicks for the same media spend, substantially improving efficiency and overall campaign performance. Verisure, one of the tool’s first adopters, reported stronger engagement, improved cost per lead and higher ROI as a result of the optimisation tools.
This aligns with wider industry data, with research from Schnoco showing that AI-driven advertising is delivering higher engagement and stronger returns by enabling campaigns to respond more intelligently to user behaviour in real time.
Combined with click optimisation, brands can now run campaigns that are both more responsive and more efficient. AI allows them to seamlessly identify which creative formats, placements, and delivery strategies are performing best and shift spend accordingly. The result is reduced wasted impressions and improved results.
What makes this particularly powerful on a platform like Nextdoor is the nature of the audience. Neighbours are actively discussing local businesses, sharing recommendations and making purchasing decisions based on trusted peer input. AI-powered tools can connect advertisers to that moment of intent with far greater precision than traditional targeting allows.
Intent matters more than keywords
AI has also changed how consumers’ search within platforms. Now, people are asking conversational questions and expecting AI to interpret the context, sentiment and intent – rather than relying on short, keyword-led queries. This change exposes a growing gap in traditional keyword targeting. Matching ads to what people type is not as effective when discovery is driven by what people mean.
At the same time, search itself is fragmenting. AI chatbots, social search and recommendation engines are playing a larger role in how people find information. Discovery is becoming more fluid and less tied to traditional search engine results. In this environment, intent matters more than keywords, with AI-driven searches already showing significantly higher conversion rates than traditional search.
AI allows advertisers to respond to this shift. Rather than building campaigns around static keyword lists, brands can now identify and group audiences based on shared intent, using signals such as behaviour, context and sentiment. This enables messaging to align more closely with what users actually want, not just what they type. And the result is a more effective and differentiated approach.
Reducing uncertainty in advertising
For brands, the opportunity now is not simply about automation. It is about reducing the uncertainty that has historically shaped advertising investment and creating campaigns that are more efficient, accountable and impactful.
Click optimisation represents this broader shift in advertising towards measurable action rather than broad assumptions. As AI continues to evolve, advertisers are becoming less reliant on trial and error and more able to make informed decisions in real time.
The advertisers who can combine creative thinking with AI-powered tools capable of delivering real-time optimisation, intent-led targeting and measurable outcomes will see measurable growth, backed by data-driven evidence made possible by the adoption of AI in advertising.
