This has come up on a different forum before. If you are in CTB, you mark YES to the did you look for work question. I know it's inaccurate, but if you keep marking NO, your benefits will be delayed, and eventually via a phone interview someone at EDD will eventually clue you in to "stop marking NO. It's perfectly ok to mark YES because CTB gives you a waiver from the work search."
I changed my mind. CA spent a ton of money getting a new UI system installed that may be smarter than the old one. It's very possible that the instructions with the old system don't apply to the new system. I think you should mark NO, and if it causes a delay and a phone interview, and the interview says to start marking YES, then you should come back and tell us.
Truth is, so few claimants are lucky enough to get into the CTB program that the question just doesn't come up that often.

