In a move that comes seemingly out of the blue, Apple has announced that its iTunes Affiliate Program will no longer include apps for iOS. The company will no longer payout commissions to third-parties who send Apple sales for any and all of those items. All other iTunes store content, such as movies, TV shows, music, and books, will remain part of the affiliate program.
The move doesn’t come as a total surprise given that last year Apple cut the commision it offered affiliates from 7 percent to 2.5 percent.
Apple broke the news in an email announcement to its affiliates:
“Thank you for participating in the affiliate program for apps. With the launch of the new App Store on both iOS and macOS and their increased methods of app discovery, we will be removing apps from the affiliate program. Starting on October 1st, 2018, commissions for iOS and Mac apps and in-app content will be removed from the program. All other content types (music, movies, books, and TV) remain in the affiliate program.”
Bottom line:
The fact smaller sites that helped drive traffic are being shut down due to loss of revenue is disheartening. It may just be one source of traffic for Apple, but businesses have been built around it.
According to Apple, the decision to remove apps from its affiliate program is due to its revamped and relaunched App Store, which focuses on the discovery of news and popular apps.
