Apple has announced apps & in-app purchases are being removed from the iTunes Affiliate Program as of October, meaning the company will no longer pay commission to publishers who make a purchase through the App Store via a referral from a registered affiliate.
The iTunes Affiliate Program allows publishers and owners of other third-parties to earn a small referral fee when somebody is referred to either iTunes, the App Store, iBooks and the Mac App Store. and makes a purchase, however; that’s all about to change.
Announced within a newsletter on Tuesday, Apple implies how organic “increased methods of app discovery” helped by the launch of the new App Store on iOS and macOS mean including the apps & in-app purchases are no longer necessary to be included with in the program… a kick in the teeth for app sites and publishers alike.
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.
Last year, Apple cut the affiliate rate for commissions made in the program from seven percent to 2.5 percent.