Fly By News – Week of Oct 31

There’s a new kind of accountability sweeping through marketing right now, and it’s coming from every direction. Regulators are cracking down on deceptive claims, search algorithms are punishing lazy content, and creators are being treated like growth channels instead of glittery billboards. The result is a market correction of sorts: authenticity, substance, and measurable impact are no longer nice-to-haves, they’re survival tools. This week, three stories captured that shift in motion, from the FTC’s AI truth test to Google’s war on low-quality content to the performance era of creator marketing.

1. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Cracks Down on Shady Ad & AI Claims

The FTC is no longer content with vague “AI-powered” promises. Under its initiative “Operation AI Comply”, the agency launched multiple enforcement actions against companies making exaggerated or unsupported AI claims. For example:

• DoNotPay was fined $193,000 for advertising itself as a “robot lawyer” despite failing to back the claims with sufficient evidence. Federal Trade Commission

• Workado, LLC was ordered to stop advertising its AI content-detector tool’s “98% accuracy” claim after the FTC found evidence it performed poorly outside of narrow academic use cases. Federal Trade Commission
  The takeaway: If you’re marketing a product or service with “AI” in the claim, you must (a) be able to substantiate it, (b) be clear and transparent about what the AI actually does, and (c) have the data to back it up. The era of “AI hype as marketing strategy” is officially over. Arnold & Porter

For marketers this means: audit all your claims, update your disclosures on landing pages, ad copy, webinars, and product collateral. If you say “powered by AI”, you better be ready to show exactly how it works (and what it doesn’t).

2. Google LLC’s Latest Search Update Is Torch-ing Low-Quality Content

Google’s algorithmic systems and quality-raters policies are increasingly punishing content that reads like it was written by a toaster. Key signals: shallow articles, heavy AI reuse without human insight, affiliate-heavy pages, and “volume over value” models. Marketing Tech News

What changed:

• The “helpful content” system is now baked into core ranking. Google says they’ve long handled low-quality content created by humans and automation. Google for Developers

• Sites relying on thin pages, republishing bulk material, or AI-generated posts without meaningful editorial input are seeing drops in visibility. Contentcustoms.com

• The updates signal that authenticity, expertise, human voice and real value are no longer optional—they are necessary for search performance.

For marketers and content teams: a blog calendar stuffed with SEO-optimized HVAC copy won’t cut it anymore. You need research, unique perspective, clear value to the reader, and editorial rigor. If your blog “sounds like a toaster”, it’s time for a rewrite.

 

3. Creators Are Now Performance Partners (Not Just “Vibes”)

In the creator-economy evolution, influencers and content creators are no longer just nice to have. They’re now expected to tie directly to measurable business outcomes. The industry is shifting from likes and reach toward conversions, sales, affiliate links and long-term partnerships. Stack Influence

Why this matters:

• According to upcoming benchmarks, 2025 will be dominated by creator campaigns where payment is tied to performance, not simply media spend. Influencity

• Influencer marketing is being treated like any other channel requiring attribution, measurement and optimization—not just “brand awareness.” Shopify

• Creators are building businesses, brands are expecting more, and the relationship is becoming strategic, not transactional. Influencer Marketing Factory

For your marketing team at Hawke Media: if you’re investing budget in creator partnerships, ask: Did this campaign generate leads? Did it move the needle on revenue? If the answer is “mostly just likes”, you’re behind.