Apple to Stop Affiliate Program for App Store Apps from October

• Citing the launch of the new App Store, Apple is set to pull the plug on its affiliate program for apps which allowed partners to earn commissions for every download.
• Apple’s affiliate program had already received a hit last year with the tech giant cutting the referral commission rates to 2.5% from 7%.
• The removal of the affiliate system will go into effect on October 1 for apps while monetization for other categories will continue to exist. 

With the App Store being redesigned to offer better curation to users, Apple has decided to remove the long-running affiliate program which helped partners earn commissions on downloads. The removal of the affiliate program will take place on October 1, and members will stop being able to refer other users for a 2.5% commission on both iOS and Mac OS apps. However, the program will continue to be available for books, TV, movies, and music.

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In 2017, the tech giant had slashed commission rates to 2.5%, down from 7%. While it was a massive blow for partners who had been using the affiliate program long term, it helped Apple promote apps through its own curation directly on the App Store. The new curation system on the App Store is known to generate 25% of game downloads, and increases featured app downloads by up to 450%. If the tech giant can keep its curation fair towards smaller developers, the removal of the affiliate system will not hurt smaller developers much.

Many publications services rely on affiliate links for monetization and the move by Apple could kill such websites. It also hurts the case for free apps that mainly rely on in-app monetization for revenue. With Apple already taking a 30% cut from developers, making money from apps that do not get featured on the App Store can make things difficult. Many users also prefer getting opinions from users who have tried the app for themselves and the removal of the affiliate program definitely does not help that case.

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