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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Nextdoor's CEO explains the 'ideological' reason he won't cut licensing deals with AI companies
Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia said data scraping gives AI companies an advantage over content owners. Tolia spoke with BI at the Cannes Lions ad festival as Nextdoor prepares to unveil a big redesign. This article is part of " CMO Insider," a series on marketing leadership and innovation. Partner, sue, or block? Those tend to be the three available options for publishers when it comes to dealing with artificial intelligence companies scraping their content to train large language models. Nextdoor, the hyperlocal social network, is emphatically choosing the blocking path. "If you spread your content far and wide, there's a very good chance that one of these better funded, larger operating companies — like a ChatGPT, or Microsoft, or whomever — is going to take all that content, train its models, and then consumers will never have to come to you," Nirav Tolia, Nextdoor's CEO, told BI in an interview at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France on Monday. Tolia said his stance is "ideological," and it comes after he learned the hard way about the perils of relying too heavily on Big Tech platforms. During the dot-com boom, Tolia was an executive at a site that helped shoppers track price drops on products they were looking to buy. Tolia said around 80% of its traffic came from Google searches. The company went public in 2004, but its share price crashed not long after, following a change in Google's algorithm that decimated its traffic. ( sold to eBay in 2005.) "When I was starting Nextdoor with my cofounders, we said it's much more difficult to grow without the benefit of Google, but we want to do everything not to be reliant because we can't sleep well at night," Tolia said. "We've never allowed our content to be scraped, to be distributed — we aren't crawled by any of the search engines," he added. It's an unusual approach. Many website owners are laser-focused on how their brands show up on search pages and frequently optimize their sites for Google's crawlers. That approach is also why you won't see Nextdoor cutting a licensing deal like Reddit's partnership with Google. The search giant has said the deal — which Reuters reported was worth about $60 million a year to Reddit — will not only train its AI models but surface more information derived from Reddit in its search results. Tolia questioned the long-term viability of these sorts of deals, even if they're additive to the bottom line in the short term. (Disclosure: OpenAI has a licensing partnership with BI parent company Axel Springer.) Tolia said that if users decide to go to Google to get data derived from Reddit, Google could, over time, drive down the cost of its licensing agreement. "Those consumers aren't even going to know it's Reddit information," Tolia said. Google has previously said that its AI Overviews send "higher quality" visits to some websites when users click on source citation links for more information. However, separate analyses from independent researchers suggest that AI overviews can hurt click-through rates. Nextdoor is preparing for its next era Tolia's stance on licensing doesn't mean Nextdoor doesn't have AI ambitions. Tolia wants every neighborhood on Nextdoor to have an AI agent, so consumers can ask its chatbot, "What's the best place to go to in Marylebone for a great Tikka Masala?" Nextdoor's agent would then trawl 14 years of users' posts and recommendations to surface an answer. "It's incumbent on us at Nextdoor to make it just as easy as ChatGPT," Tolia said. Nextdoor's trip to Cannes Lions comes as it prepares to launch a new redesign with the intention of creating a more structured feed and more timely notifications about events happening in users' neighborhoods, layering in information from sources like city councils and local news outlets. The company's goal is to become more of a daily habit. Nextdoor said during its earnings call last month that while it has 100 million verified users, only around a quarter of them are active on the platform. Nextdoor is also sharpening its pitch to advertisers. Once the new redesign launches, it plans to roll out more ad formats and other ad services later in the year. Tolia said Nextdoor is emphasizing its hyper-local roots and the authentic conversations that happen on the platform, which are rooted around events in the real, not online, world. "I think marketers want authenticity, and so if you think about this idea of verified neighbors in real neighborhoods, in a private ecosystem — that's very different than a place like Instagram, for example," where much of the content is from influencers, Tolia said.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
KIND Q1 Earnings Call: Nextdoor Unveils Product Overhaul and Outlines Path to Monetization
Neighborhood social network Nextdoor (NYSE:KIND) reported Q1 CY2025 results beating Wall Street's revenue expectations , with sales up 1.9% year on year to $54.18 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was in line with analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy KIND? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $54.18 million vs analyst estimates of $53.22 million (1.9% year-on-year growth, 1.8% beat) Adjusted EBITDA: -$9.16 million vs analyst estimates of -$12.74 million (-16.9% margin, 28.1% beat) Operating Margin: -49.9%, up from -65.4% in the same quarter last year Weekly Active Users: 46.1 million, up 2.7 million year on year Market Capitalization: $627.4 million Nextdoor's first quarter was shaped primarily by its ongoing transformation initiative, NEXT, which management described as a fundamental redesign of the platform to enhance user engagement and deliver more timely, hyper-local content. CEO Nirav Tolia emphasized that the company's most significant progress during the quarter was product-related, with the transition to NEXT prioritized over near-term growth metrics. He highlighted that, 'any short-term trade-offs we have made and continue to make are intentional and aligned with our plan to maximize long-term value.' The company also reported steady user growth and improved adjusted EBITDA margins, attributing these gains to disciplined expense management and improved marketing efficiency. Looking ahead, Nextdoor's leadership is focused on launching the NEXT platform to all U.S. users by late July, with expectations that deeper engagement and new features will set the stage for improved monetization. Management is targeting three core pillars with this product overhaul: local news, real-time alerts, and AI-driven recommendations. Tolia noted, 'We expect that by the end of July, we will have released NEXT to everyone in the U.S.,' adding that initial feedback from advertisers has been encouraging. CFO Matt Anderson acknowledged that while large advertiser spending remains a headwind, he expects upcoming ad platform enhancements and the rollout of programmatic ad buying to support a return to revenue growth in the second half of the year. Management linked first quarter performance to disciplined cost controls, a focus on user experience upgrades, and the initial phase of the NEXT product transformation, while highlighting near-term trade-offs for longer-term value. NEXT product transition: The company dedicated significant resources to the development and upcoming launch of its NEXT platform, which aims to deliver more relevant local content, real-time alerts, and enhanced recommendations. Management sees this as a foundational change expected to drive future engagement and monetization. User metric realignment: Nextdoor will shift its primary user metric from total weekly active users (WAU) to platform WAU, which counts only users engaging directly with the app or website. This move is designed to better reflect the quality of engagement and align with where monetization occurs, excluding passive email-only users. Ad platform enhancements: The Nextdoor Ads platform now serves all large U.S. advertisers directly and has seen improvements in click-through rates and cost efficiency. Management attributed this to the adoption of new performance features and AI-powered campaign tools, which help advertisers better reach relevant audiences. Self-serve revenue growth: Self-serve advertising continued to expand, accounting for over 60% of total revenue in the first quarter. This reflects a shift towards more accessible, automated advertising solutions that can attract a broader range of advertisers beyond large brands. Expense discipline and cash flow: The company reported ongoing year-over-year improvements in adjusted EBITDA margins and generated positive operating cash flow, citing improved team productivity, more efficient marketing, and lower hosting costs as contributing factors. Nextdoor's forward outlook centers on the full launch of NEXT, expansion of ad surfaces, and the shift to programmatic advertising, balanced against near-term advertiser spending headwinds. NEXT rollout and engagement: Management believes that the success of NEXT, which introduces new features like curated local news, real-time alerts, and AI-driven recommendations, will be crucial to driving higher user engagement and ultimately increasing monetization opportunities. The rollout is expected to be completed by late July, with initial results to be shared in the next quarter. Programmatic ad adoption: Plans to enable programmatic ad buying later this year are intended to unlock new demand from advertisers, particularly as some large brands shift budgets toward programmatic channels. Management expects this to help offset weakness in direct large advertiser sales and support a return to revenue growth. Expense management and platform WAU focus: The company will continue to prioritize disciplined spending while monitoring the transition to the new platform WAU metric. This focus aims to capture more engaged, monetizable users and align external reporting with the areas generating the most value for both users and advertisers. In the upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will closely track (1) the uptake and user response to the full NEXT platform launch, (2) progress on enabling programmatic ad buying and its effect on advertiser demand, and (3) the transition from traditional WAU to platform WAU as a core metric for engagement and monetization. Additionally, the pace and quality of AI-driven feature adoption will serve as a key indicator of Nextdoor's evolving value proposition. Nextdoor currently trades at a forward price-to-gross profit ratio of 3×. Should you double down or take your chips? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 5 Strong Momentum Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-micro-cap company Kadant (+351% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today. Sign in to access your portfolio
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
OTTs bet on microdramas to keep viewers glued to screens
Indian OTT platforms are changing their content. They are adding short microdramas for mobile users. Korean dramas are also becoming popular. Platforms like MX Player and Netflix are investing in these formats. This helps them keep viewers interested. The goal is to offer diverse entertainment. Platforms are adapting to changing audience tastes. They are also expanding their content libraries. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Mumbai: Indian over-the-top (OTT) platforms are diversifying their content offerings not just to attract new audiences, but also to retain them in an increasingly competitive user attention spans shrink and viewer fatigue sets in due to content overload, platforms are adopting new content formats to keep audiences engaged. One of the most notable shifts is the anticipated rise of microdramas-bite-sized, mobile-first series that originated in executives note that these tightly packed narratives are designed for on-the-go consumption, aligning perfectly with India's mobile-first audience. All major OTT platforms are now actively working on their microdrama strategies. Microdramas are a natural response to India's mobile-first audience and evolving viewing habits," says Mautik Tolia, MD of Bodhitree Multimedia . "They offer instant connection and fit seamlessly into our daily lives."Tolia views the format not as a passing trend but as a foundation for future storytelling, especially in a market defined by linguistic diversity and widespread smartphone microdramas represent a shift in form, Korean dramas are reshaping content preferences. Prime Video's recent multi-year deal with CJ ENM highlights the growing demand for K-content in India. Platforms like Netflix already boast strong Korean content libraries, with global hits like Squid Game leading the Dusad, director and head of content at Amazon MX Player, said OTT platforms must adapt to evolving audience preferences in a rapidly changing digital landscape. MX Player is placing big bets on Korean dramas, anime, and serialised microdramas through its upcoming ' MX Fatafat ' initiative, which will feature short, two-minute episodes."By experimenting with a variety of genres and formats, we ensure our content reflects the global nature of today's entertainment while remaining grounded in the tastes and preferences of the Indian audience . As we enter the next phase of growth, we're also enhancing our library with a wide array of shows across genres,"he Netflix is tapping into nostalgia to expand its viewer base.
