Apple has a new deal for publishers. According to this deal, if you join Apple News, it will only deduct 15% of your in-app sales and subscriptions rather than 30%. Publishers can apply to Apple’s News Partner Program to take advantage of the deal, but they must agree to Apple’s terms which benefit Apple and go beyond simply maintaining an Apple News channel.
The following is a list of precise qualifying conditions for applying to Apple’s Partner Program:
- A solid Apple News channel in Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom must be maintained. Besides, all content must be published in Apple News Format. If you are not based in these regions and do not publish in Apple News Format, you must share your content via an RSS feed.
- Delivering original, professionally-written news content is the principal function of your app.
- Your app must be published on the App Store and support auto-renewable subscriptions via Apple’s in-app purchase system.
- A supplemental amendment to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement must be agreed to by the Account Holder of an Apple Developer Program membership.
Apple News Channels, ANF-formatted publications and App Store apps that offer auto-renewable subscriptions and “original, professionally-authored news content” are expected of publishers. “Further initiatives to diversify newsrooms and news coverage” will also be supported and funded by the News Partner Program.
Maintaining an app and publishing in a totally new and proprietary format is more effective, but given what Apple has apparently required of publishers in the past, this may be a welcome break. Apple typically takes a 30% commission on in-app subscriptions which reduces to 15% after a year. However, prior to the introduction of Apple News, rumors stated Apple was charging publishers for a 50% fee. Naturally, news publishers were outraged, especially after learning that Amazon received preferential treatment.
It is unclear whether the News Partner Program will entice previous publishers like The New York Times after the hard treatment. There is also the question of how this looks in light of Apple’s existing antitrust cases in the United States and overseas. However, the corporation has not been known for considering the ramifications of significant business decisions in recent years, so the company may be hoping other publishers will not do the same.
