One of the best things about the App Store is the ability to deeplink to every individual application from an external website.
It's fuelling developers' and publishers' marketing campaigns, and is also providing a new revenue stream for iPhone game reviews websites (Pocket Gamer included) through affiliate links, where the sites get a slice of purchases made by readers clicking through from a review.
This could be changing, though, according to the Associated Press (via Slide To Play) It says the US Federal Trade Commission is planning to regulate blogging, particularly when people don't disclose commercial compensation for their posts, or conflicts of interest.
This will include paid posts and advertorials, but according to the AP, will also cover affiliate links. It's unclear how the latter will be regulated though - sites may simply have to disclose that they're getting a cut from click-throughs.
Issues around blogging and ethics invariably provoke emotional debate. But if the crackdown on affiliate linking is too severe, it could have the unintended effect of making sites more dependent on advertising - bringing its own questions for their neutrality.
News
Contributing Editor
Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)
Top Stories
News
Jun 11th, 2024
King and Flexion partner to bring Candy Crush Saga to App Gallery and more alternative app stores
Feature
Jun 11th, 2024
Mobile Mavens: Are today's everlasting, live ops games holding back new innovation?
Feature
Jun 11th, 2024
The key takeaway from Apple's AI-laden WWDC keynote? It's time to buy a new iPhone
Events
Tribeca Games Festival 2024 | North America | Jun 5th |
Steam Next Fest: June 2024 Edition | Jun 10th | |
WN Conference Istanbul 2024 | Jun 11th | |
GamesForum Hamburg 2024 | Europe | Jun 11th |
ESI London 2024 | Europe | Jun 13th |
Game Con Canada (GCC) 2024 | North America | Jun 14th |
Indie Dev Play 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
DevGAMM Vilnius 2024 | Europe | Jun 14th |
Popular Stories
Interview
Jun 5th, 2024
A galaxy far, far away… Why Star Wars: Hunters took six years to hit the target
Interview
Jun 7th, 2024