{
  "slug": "fallback-ctr-prior",
  "name": "Fallback CTR prior",
  "aliases": [
    "Generic prior",
    "Fallback curve"
  ],
  "definition": "The generic position-to-click-rate table used only when no curve can be fitted from the site's own data, so a worklist can still be sized, labelled in the output as not this site's curve.",
  "category": "Content opportunity",
  "type": "rate",
  "unit": "expected share of impressions that clicked, per position (0 to 1)",
  "direction": "higher-better",
  "verification": "review",
  "aggregation": "A lookup by rounded position, clamped to positions 1 through 20. It is not fitted and does not vary by segment cell.",
  "grain": "One position, globally.",
  "dimensions": [
    "position"
  ],
  "requiredFilters": [],
  "sources": [
    "search-console"
  ],
  "reports": [
    "content-decay-report",
    "ctr-opportunity-report",
    "search-opportunity-report"
  ],
  "skills": [
    "striking-distance-sprint"
  ],
  "verbs": [
    "striking_distance"
  ],
  "rungs": [
    "R2"
  ],
  "levers": [
    "L3"
  ],
  "questions": [
    "What happens when there is not enough data to fit our own CTR curve?",
    "Why is this worklist marked as using a fallback?"
  ],
  "caveats": [
    "It fires only when the site's own fit fails; every affected row is marked, and the response carries an explicit fallback warning.",
    "Any upside sized from it is not this site's modeled upside, and the difference is not a rounding matter.",
    "The rest of this product line refuses published click-rate tables on the grounds that they do not describe today's results pages, which makes the presence of this one a contradiction to resolve, not a convenience to document."
  ],
  "freshness": "1 to 2 days behind, Google's own reporting lag. Any answer touching the last 48 hours says so on the card.",
  "failureModes": [
    "Presenting fallback-sized upside as the site's own modeled upside.",
    "Comparing a fallback-sized worklist to a fitted one across periods."
  ],
  "notSameAs": [],
  "related": [
    "expected-ctr",
    "potential-clicks-adjusted",
    "ctr-bucket-support"
  ],
  "workflows": [],
  "lastVerified": "2026-08-04"
}