Update: Apple “clarified” its position a few days later.
A few hours ago, Apple emailed members of its iTunes Affiliate program:
Starting on May 1st 2017, commissions for all app and in-app content will be reduced from 7% to 2.5% globally. All other content types (music, movies, books, and TV) will remain at the current 7% commission rate in all markets. We will also continue to pay affiliate commissions on Apple Music memberships so there are many ways to earn commissions with the program.
I don’t link to many apps from 512 Pixels, but when I do, it is with an affiliate link, and the generally do pretty well. In a world with falling web advertising rates,1 this is going to really hurt some websites.
Everything about this strikes me as strange, including the mere one week notice and the severity of the cut. It’s not a small reduction — it’s effectively been cut in one-third. Note too that Apple is only reducing the affiliate commission for apps and in-app purchases — movies, music, and books are all still at 7 percent.
The single week’s notice is pretty lame, too.
- And RSS sponsorships that have become harder and harder to sell. ↩