Apple is killing its App Store affiliate program
In a move that will shake the mobile app ecosystem, Apple has announced it will be ending it’s affiliate program for apps.
Starting Oct. 1, Apple will remove iOS apps, Mac apps, and all in-store app purchases from its affiliate program. 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.
According to Apple, the decision to remove apps from its affiliate program is due to its revamped and relaunched App Store, complete with real human editors, which focuses on discover of news and popular apps.
Apple broke it down in an email announcement to its affiliates:
On social media, many people are outraged. The app affiliate program enabled many third-party, completely independent from Apple, websites to write about and honestly review iOS and Mac apps. These outlets — websites like AppShopper, Touch Arcade, and AppAdvice — were able to sustain regular coverage and app reviews due in major part to the money made from the apps purchased from their affiliate links.
Upon seeing the news of Apple ending its app affiliate program, TouchArcade editor-in-chief Eli Hodapp took to Twitter.
I wish I was dead. https://t.co/hNdSnRUT9q
— 𝙴𝚕𝚒 𝙷𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚙𝚙 🤨 (@hodapp) August 1, 2018
In a post on TouchArcade, Hodapp further wrote:
And TouchArcade’s editor-in-chief was quick to point out, as did others, that these websites aren’t the only ones who would be hurt by this move from Apple. Indie iOS app and game developers would feel the pain too.
The mega-fucked thing about Apple killing third party editorial because their new App Store discovery is so “good” is that featuring now requires proven KPI’s. “Real” game sites don’t cover mobile-Without outlets like TouchArcade unknown iOS indie games are effectively 100% dead.
— 𝙴𝚕𝚒 𝙷𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚙𝚙 🤨 (@hodapp) August 2, 2018
This is sheer vertical-monopolization, cutting off any other source of commentary that they don't control and choking it to death. I knew the changes were bad for smaller devs last year but now we're all the way to "just buy what Apple tells you to" https://t.co/MWo4PHnnGl
— Naomi Clark [暗悪・直美] (@metasynthie) August 2, 2018
Apple’s focus on discovery in its App Store may be a move in the right direction, but it will never make up for the coverage lesser known developers get from third party, independent websites. And, on the day Apple becomes the world’s first trillion dollar company, they can certainly afford to keep sharing the 2.5 to 7 percent affiliate commission from its app profits with the very indie websites that drive them sales.
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