IAS and Nextdoor Partner to Strengthen Brand Safety in Local Advertising
Integral Ad Science (IAS), a global media measurement and optimization company, has announced a new collaboration with Nextdoor, the neighborhood-focused social platform. This agreement positions IAS as the first provider of pre-bid Brand Safety and Suitability Optimization for Nextdoor, bringing a stronger layer of assurance to advertisers.
Boosting Trust with AI-Driven Tools
IAS’s technology uses advanced multimedia analysis that assesses image, audio, and text signals in real time. This lets advertisers better control where their ads appear. Through this partnership, ads placed on Nextdoor’s Newsfeed — which reaches about one-third of U.S. households — will benefit from new safeguards that align with widely accepted industry standards.
Jim Egan, Senior Vice President of Business Development at IAS, emphasized the importance of the move: “This partnership marks a meaningful step in giving advertisers more transparency, trust, and control when they invest in Nextdoor campaigns.”
Why This Partnership Matters
Advertisers using Nextdoor will now access:
Third-Party Oversight: IAS enables pre-bid blocking, meaning advertisers can prevent their ads from appearing next to content across 12 sensitive categories, each mapped to four risk levels.
Custom Control: Brands can fine-tune content avoidance settings to match their specific needs, spanning mobile, desktop, and more than 90 languages.
Deep Content Analysis: IAS applies frame-by-frame scanning of multimedia content, working alongside Nextdoor’s moderation to deliver a detailed understanding of context.
Michael Kiernan, Chief Revenue Officer at Nextdoor, added, “For us, trust isn’t a bonus — it’s a foundation. Partnering with IAS gives advertisers greater certainty that they’re appearing in the right places, at the right moments, among the right audiences.”
About the Companies
IAS is known globally for providing advertisers and publishers with in-depth media data to improve campaign performance. Its mission centers on making sure ads are shown to real audiences in environments that align with brand values.
Nextdoor connects neighborhoods across 11 countries, offering a platform for residents, businesses, and public agencies to share timely local information. It has become a key space for hyperlocal advertising, helping brands engage directly with community audiences.
Future Expansion and Why Local Branding Matters
IAS and Nextdoor are gearing up to introduce the Total Media Quality (TMQ) suite in the second half of 2025. This rollout will offer advertisers expanded tools for assessing campaign performance, including trusted third-party evaluations of brand safety, detailed viewability tracking, and detection of invalid traffic. These additions are crafted to help advertisers sharpen how they engage with local audiences, improving both message delivery and return on ad spend.
But the benefits go beyond data and metrics. For local businesses, the partnership between IAS and Nextdoor highlights a broader truth: strong branding at the neighborhood level is no longer optional — it’s critical. Small businesses often compete not just on product or price, but on trust and reputation within their communities. Having ads show up in the right places, alongside the right content, strengthens that local image. When businesses are confident their ads are being seen in positive, safe contexts, they can focus more on building meaningful customer connections.
By combining IAS’s advanced content analysis with Nextdoor’s unique neighborhood-driven platform, this collaboration delivers more than just better ad targeting. It provides a system that protects local businesses’ reputations and helps them stand out in a crowded marketplace. With the upcoming TMQ suite, advertisers will gain even finer control over how they appear within Nextdoor’s growing network — ensuring that every marketing dollar is spent wisely and every impression counts.
This partnership marks a clear step forward for local marketing. It underscores the need for businesses, large and small, to invest not just in placing ads, but in safeguarding how their brand is seen. In a landscape where one negative impression can ripple across a community, tools like IAS’s TMQ suite give businesses the confidence to grow their presence and deepen local trust.
