Apple moves towards in-house affiliate approach following tie-up with PHG
Apple is opting for a more in-house approach to its international affiliate programs, having dropped its US and Australian affiliate network partners in favour of Performance Horizon Group (PHG).
The company has closed its affiliate programs with LinkShare, which covered the US, Canada and Mexico, and DGM, which managed Australia and New Zealand, and is urging all its iTunes affiliates to switch their accounts to the new PHG program by 1 October.
It is currently still working with its European affiliate network provider Tradedoubler, which also covers South America.
Apple, which revealed the news in a brief post on its internal Affiliates Resources website, has cited global expansion plans and “improved reporting tools” for its reasons for switching to PHG. It has moved its existing affiliate programs over to an Apple-branded white label version, powered by PHG.
Apple’s affiliate program lets blog owners earn commissions on sales of music, apps, books and other content by linking to the media through their websites. The company is currently accepting applications via the iTunes Affiliate Program website as well.
It said on its website: “We're introducing a new affiliate platform partner, PHG, which will support the Affiliate Program's expansion to more countries and provide improved reporting tools.
"If you are currently participating in the Affiliate Program in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Australia, or New Zealand, you will now be supported by this new platform. To continue earning commissions without interruption, set up a new affiliate account and update all existing links by October 1, 2013."
It’s understood Apple already moved affiliate programs for its online store, which provides all the hardware items like ipods and imacs, over to PHG a few months ago. This week its affiliate programs for iTunes will follow suit.
Other major affiliate players Amazon and eBay already operate their affiliate programs in-house.
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