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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, an

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. So, the sites promoting Hollywood get to keep the 7%, but the sites promoting Apple's developers get tanked?

jedberg 10y ago
That's an interesting way to read it. To me it says more along the lines of: we know that media gets a lot of marketing through word of mouth, which affiliate links promote, but for apps, they usually spread though being useful, so we don't think we'll loose a lot of money but cutting off the "word of mouth" marketing channel for apps.
- downandout 10y ago
  Apps don't spread from being useful. Being useful might be a baseline requirement for them to spread, but massive marketing budgets, social media spamming, and shady deals with handset makers (if you can get them) are what cause most apps to truly be hits today. Long gone are the days when an independent developer writes a little app and, and much to his or her surprise, it goes viral and they make six or seven figures quickly. There are many reasons for this - fierce competition, terrible app store discovery models, etc. The commission cut will only make the problem worse, by lowering the incentives to write about little-known but good apps. Instead, the only apps that get written about will be those where the app creator has a big budget and puts pay-per-install offers on affiliate networks. The competition and steep commissions on these netowrks is such that a typical install will cost a publisher $2-$4, making it unprofitable except possibly in the very long term, and even then only if the app has an extremely aggressive revenue model.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Hollywood has an advertising budget which cannot be matched by any app developer save the game studios and Apple itself. How many app developers have anything but "word of mouth"?
aczerepinski 10y ago
Different rates make sense to me because if you're going to buy a movie or a song, you can go to Amazon, Spotify, etc. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on those sales. If you want to buy an app for your iPhone the App Store is literally the only place you can get it.
- accountyaccount 10y ago
  It makes sense from Apple's perspective, but kind of sucks for everyone else.
- protomyth 10y ago
  Yes, it makes perfect business sense for Apple itself, but it is just another Apple decision that negatively impacts Apple's developers.
anigbrowl 10y ago
promoting Hollywood Please stop treating the entertainment industry as a monolithic 'Hollywood' to be hated on, that's neither true nor fair.

jedberg 10y ago

That's an interesting way to read it. To me it says more along the lines of: we know that media gets a lot of marketing through word of mouth, which affiliate links promote, but for apps, they usually spread though being useful, so we don't think we'll loose a lot of money but cutting off the "word of mouth" marketing channel for apps.

downandout 10y ago
Apps don't spread from being useful. Being useful might be a baseline requirement for them to spread, but massive marketing budgets, social media spamming, and shady deals with handset makers (if you can get them) are what cause most apps to truly be hits today. Long gone are the days when an independent developer writes a little app and, and much to his or her surprise, it goes viral and they make six or seven figures quickly. There are many reasons for this - fierce competition, terrible app store discovery models, etc. The commission cut will only make the problem worse, by lowering the incentives to write about little-known but good apps. Instead, the only apps that get written about will be those where the app creator has a big budget and puts pay-per-install offers on affiliate networks. The competition and steep commissions on these netowrks is such that a typical install will cost a publisher $2-$4, making it unprofitable except possibly in the very long term, and even then only if the app has an extremely aggressive revenue model.
protomyth 10y ago
Hollywood has an advertising budget which cannot be matched by any app developer save the game studios and Apple itself. How many app developers have anything but "word of mouth"?

aczerepinski 10y ago

Different rates make sense to me because if you're going to buy a movie or a song, you can go to Amazon, Spotify, etc. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on those sales. If you want to buy an app for your iPhone the App Store is literally the only place you can get it.

accountyaccount 10y ago
It makes sense from Apple's perspective, but kind of sucks for everyone else.
protomyth 10y ago
Yes, it makes perfect business sense for Apple itself, but it is just another Apple decision that negatively impacts Apple's developers.

anigbrowl 10y ago

promoting Hollywood Please stop treating the entertainment industry as a monolithic 'Hollywood' to be hated on, that's neither true nor fair.