Most online stores offer an affiliate program through which companies or people who include a link to a product, receive a commission for the sale, without finally being done. Apple also offers a similar affiliate program, through which it offers a small commission to all users or web pages that link to applications in the iOS and Mac application store.
But it seems that this iTunes affiliate program the days are numbered, since according to the mail that users who are part of this program have begun to send, as of October 1, the iOS and macOS application store will no longer be part of this affiliate program.
In the statement that the Cupertino-based company has begun to send, Apple states that due to the recent changes that both the App Store and the Mac App Store have received, the number of methods to find new applications has been increased, so it is no longer necessary to incentivize third parties to drive traffic to the app store.
The renewal of the App Store came from the hand of iOS 11, a renewal that also it supposed the elimination of the access to the App Store through iTunes. The new Mac App Store, as we could see in the last WWDC will come from the hand of macOS Mojave, and will use a design and system similar to the one that we can find in the App Store of devices managed by iOS.
The iTunes affiliate program, will continue to include commissions on music content, books and movies, although it is likely that it will do so until these stores also undergo a profound remodeling, as seems to indicate the steps that Apple is taking lately in its stores.