New Affiliate Platform & Six Countries Announced

This morning Apple made an announcement outlining major updates to the iTunes / App Store Affiliate Program.

The biggest change is the introduction of the Performance Horizon Group (PHG) affiliate platform. The PHG platform helps streamline the affiliate program by rolling in support for many countries (existing and new countries) around the world into a single program.

Today’s announcement includes support for six countries that previously had programs, plus six new countries. The US, Canada, Mexico and Japan were previously supported by LinkShare, and Australia and New Zealand where under management by DGM Performance and are now supported by PHG. Singapore, Hong Kong, Russia, Taiwan, Turkey and South Africa are new to the affiliate program and are supported by PHG. This brings the current number of countries with an iTunes affiliate program to 51 worldwide. The PHG platform appears to be the new standard for adding new countries to the iTunes / App Store Affiliate Program going forward.

The revised program also includes an update to the commission structure that determines how and when affiliates are paid out for a referral. On the new platform, referrers will receive a 7% commission from referred sales that take place within a 24-hour period. With PHG, commissions for in-app purchases will be limited to only those from the app being referred in the affiliate link.

Along with the new countries coming on board, we are also excited about sales of apps and books now earning a commission in Canada. Not needing a Japanese-based bank account or localized website to earn commissions in Japan is another great benefit.

On October 1^st, the transition to PHG from DGM, LinkShare and LinkShare Japan will be complete, with affiliation no longer working through the previously mentioned affiliate networks.

The 29 programs across Europe and 10 across Latin America are not impacted and will continue to be managed by Tradedoubler. This means that four unique affiliate tokens are still required to earn commissions internationally. A single token is needed for all PHG countries, while, three tokens are needed for Tradedoubler countries (Tradedoubler Europe, Tradedoubler Brazil, Tradedoubler Latin America).

So what does this mean for GeoRiot clients?

Our team has been hard at work and we’re proud to report that as of late last week our support for PHG is live. GeoRiot is fully compatible with PHG and the new countries in the program.

In preparation for the October 1^st deadline, we’ve made it uber simple to move off the old affiliate networks. If you’re not yet an active GeoRiot client, the addition of PHG means it’s a great time to make the switch. Let us help you convert your old DGM and LinkShare links into globally aware affiliate links.

For existing clients, making the transition from LinkShare or DGM to PHG is as easy as updating your Affiliate page in the dashboard with your PHG affiliate token and, then deleting the relevant countries under LinkShare and DGM. After refreshing the page, you’ll see the supported countries listed under PHG and all of your GeoRiot links will start using the new affiliate parameter within minutes.

As always, client support is our priority so please ping us with any questions, comments, or concerns in the coming weeks. Also, stay tuned to our blog for additional information and tips and tricks to maximize your affiliate reach with GeoRiot.