Anyone else seeing weird CTR swings after the latest Google update?

[mike_donovan]

Hey folks,

I’ve been watching a few of my sites this week and something feels off. Rankings didn’t move much on a couple pages, but CTR dropped hard on some keywords while others actually improved. Same positions, different click behavior.

One affiliate site in the home niche is getting decent impressions but way fewer clicks than usual. I changed nothing on-page besides a couple title tweaks last month, so I’m wondering if this is just Google shifting SERP layouts or if the intent mix changed.

A few things I noticed:
– Branded queries are holding up better than non-branded
– Some informational pages still rank, but the click rate is trash
– Pages with stronger commercial intent seem less affected
– AI-written supporting content is still indexing fine, but not really moving the needle by itself

I’m testing a few things right now:
– rewriting titles to be more direct and less “SEO-ish”
– adding comparison tables above the fold
– tightening internal links to money pages
– checking if snippets are matching the actual search intent better

I’m also seeing better affiliate clicks on pages where I keep the intro short and get to the point fast. Long fluffy intros are basically dead for me right now.

Curious if anyone else is seeing the same thing. Is this just another CTR shakeup, or are you guys noticing actual ranking instability too?

[Author]

Posts