Touch Arcade:
Moments ago, Apple announced that they’re killing the affiliate program, citing the improved discovery offered by the new App Store. (Music, books, movies, and TV remain.) It’s hard to read this in any other way than “We went from seeing a microscopic amount of value in third party editorial to, we now see no value.” I genuinely have no idea what TouchArcade is going to do. Through thick and thin, and every curveball the industry threw at us, we always had App Store affiliate revenue- Which makes a lot of sense as we drive a ton of purchases for Apple. I don’t know how the takeaway from this move can be seen as anything other than Apple extending a massive middle finger to sites like TouchArcade, AppShopper, and many others who have spent the last decade evangelizing the App Store and iOS gaming.
This has the potential to kill sites like Touch Arcade that use the revenue from App Store affiliate links to stay afloat. I think Apple’s stated reasoning for this action is utterly ridiculous and complete bullshit. But it also shows the danger for any site or business to rely too much on one source of revenue.
I have never bought an app unless I read positive reviews of it on an independent review site, or saw it mentioned as a recommended thing that fulfills job X well. I don’t trust user reviews (too full of idiots), I don’t trust reviews put forth by the app store (too full of conflict of interest).
This is a boneheaded move by Apple.
Now I understand why the Lookmark app subscription prices increased. Loss of revenue from affiliate links.
Strange decision from Phil Schiller. I think if Tim Cook is not careful this guy could destroy what is essentially Apple.
Which is unfortunate, because I think the “discovery” afforded by the new App Store (as with the old one) is pretty terrible. It’s like going to Barnes and Noble and not being allowed past the front tables.
I’d never heard about these kinds of sites until today, and I imagine there are lots of people in the same boat. Of course, Apple would have the numbers that show what percentage of customers get their apps through these sorts of sites and affiliate links, and that percentage must have gotten to the point where Apple thought it was no longer worth maintaining.
To play devil’s advocate: It’s very dangerous to build a business that depends entirely on commissions from someone else’s business.
Same here. I don’t think I’ve ever read a website review of an app.
I mean, I frequent websites and blogs that sometimes review/recommend one app or another but nothing solely dedicated to reviewing/recommending apps.
lol. good one. schiller has been there longer and gets Apple.
ditto. i hear about apps thru the grapevine, not some silly affiliate website.
I used to read TouchArcade religiously. But over time I realised I wasn’t downloading anything as a result of doing so. Eventually interest waned and i never went back.
By the sounds of things, many didn’t even get that far.