Apple kills app affiliate commissions, imperiling small publishers

Apple generally releases its “bad” news late in the day, and its latest such announcement is particularly unfortunate: Effective October 1, it will stop paying publishers affiliate commissions for both apps and in-app purchases from its App Stores, a move that independent app reviewers believe will kill their sites.

The company announced the decision in an email to affiliates one day after reporting that it had made a record $53.3 billion in the prior quarter, which executives said was buoyed by growing App Store sales and subscriptions. Apple’s stock spent the day within striking distance of a historic $1 trillion market capitalization, while some of the App Store’s longest-term promoters spent the night worrying about whether they would still have jobs after the change.