Amazon will cut commission rates for its affiliate program starting April 21; amount of drop dependent on category, rates for grocery products dropping 5% to 1%
- Amazon on Tuesday told members of its affiliates program that it will cut commission rates beginning April 21.
CNBCAnnie Palmer
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the second time Amazon has reset its affiliate economics: back in [[a:916948|2017 it cut affiliate revenue in some categories and scrapped volume-based pricing for a flat rate]], and now it is lowering rates again across the board, with grocery taking the deepest hit from 5% to 1%. The move lands mid-pandemic, when traffic to review and deal sites is high but Amazon's own costs are under pressure.
Amazon is not alone in squeezing referral partners — weeks after that 2017 cut, Apple dropped its app affiliate commission from 7% to 2.5% — but the scale of Amazon's program makes this the reference point for the creator-and-content economy's reliance on platform-set payouts.
First-order effects
Affiliate publishers — review sites, deal aggregators, individual creators — see their per-sale revenue drop immediately on April 21, with grocery-focused sites losing four-fifths of their rate overnight.
Content businesses whose unit economics were built on the old rate card must reprice sponsorships, renegotiate budgets, or absorb the loss with no transition period.
Second-order effects
Publishers will diversify away from Amazon links toward rival retail affiliate programs and direct monetization, giving competitors an opening to court displaced affiliates with richer rates.
The cut signals to merchants and developers how Amazon treats partner payouts when costs rise — consistent with later moves like the Alexa skills commission reduction from 30% to 20% and new seller fees layered on top of existing commissions.
Third-order effects
If unilateral rate resets become routine, the affiliate and creator economy structurally depends on platforms whose take rates can be repriced at will — pushing professional publishers toward owned revenue (subscriptions, first-party commerce) rather than referral income.
Across sellers, developers, and now affiliates, Amazon is demonstrating that platform commissions function as a flexible cost lever, a template other marketplaces can follow when their own margins tighten.
The trend: Platform companies are increasingly treating partner and creator commissions as a variable cost lever, resetting take rates unilaterally whenever their own economics demand it.
not a good year for media, again https://twitter.com/...
@jordanchariton
Jordan on x
No paid sick leave, lack of PPE for @amazon employees, firing workers who blow the whistle, and now this. Are there laws in the country and will @JeffBezos ever be held accountable for anything? https://twitter.com/...
@scottgerber
Scott Gerber on x
Like I said this morning... if you don't “own” your audience and revenue streams, you have to deal with the landlord... This move by Amazon will cost publishers MILLIONS of dollars... https://www.cnbc.com/...
@tomgara
Tom Gara on x
I salute Amazon for its commitment to deepening the recession in digital media https://www.cnbc.com/...
@jbenton
Joshua Benton on x
REVENUE GODS: hey, news media, you should diversify your revenue streams MEDIA: ok how about events? REVENUE GODS: all events are cancelled forever MEDIA: how about affiliate e-commerce JEFF BEZOS: lol https://www.theverge.com/...
@rationalmale
Rollo Tomassi on x
No point paying affiliates to market for you when you're basically the only company selling and shipping anything since the economy tanked. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@snazzyq
Quinn Nelson on x
Bad. This is going to mean more ads from your favorite YouTubers. Amazon is a pretty major revenue stream for many of us. https://twitter.com/...
@matthewstoller
Matt Stoller on x
Monopolies tend to cut prices to suppliers. For what it's worth. https://twitter.com/...
@sarahw
Sarah Weinman on x
Dear media companies still doing books coverage: switch the affiliate links to independent bookstores. https://www.theverge.com/...
@naomiaklein
Naomi Klein on x
Wait so Amazon is making a fortune off of this pandemic while media outlets are in crisis (people are hungry for news but ad spending plummets in a recession). And Bezos chooses *this* moment to squeeze the industry. https://twitter.com/...
@raju
Raju Narisetti on x
This has happened at regular intervals over the years with @amazon affiliate commissions across different categories. This time, a lot more publishers are into content-led commerce, so will add lot more fuel to the #coronavirus revenue crisis https://www.cnbc.com/... via @CNBC
@tweetermeyer
E.W. Niedermeyer on x
Honestly, this is an amateur move compared to certain Silicon Valley companies who simply promised “referral partners” $250k vaporware cars that will never actually be delivered. https://twitter.com/...
@passantino
Jon Passantino on x
More terrible news for media outlets that have increasingly turned to affiliate links to generate millions in revenue https://www.theverge.com/...
@billda
Bill D'Alessandro on x
Oof - Amazon just decimated a ton of affiliate businesses. “The affiliate commission from purchases of furniture & home improvement products has fallen from 8% to 3%, while the commission rate for grocery products has slid from 5% to 1%.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
@comfortablysmug
Comfortably Smug on x
Not a bad business model for Bezos to buy the Washington Post then bankrupt all other media companies that rely on Amazon commissions https://twitter.com/...
@joshsternberg
Josh Stermberb on x
This is really bad for the media industry. The amount of money that publishers generate from Amazon affiliate links is significant. https://www.cnbc.com/...
@kifleswing
Kif on x
Amazon is cutting commission rates for members of its affiliate program. Remember when this was one of digital media's fastest growing revenue sources? https://www.cnbc.com/...
@robaeprice
Rob Price on x
Amazon is drastically slashing the commissions it pays for its affiliate sales program — further squeezing media outlets who rely on it and have seen their advertising revenues plummet in recent weeks. https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@mattrosoff
Matt Rosoff on x
Harsh time to stick it to publishers: “The affiliate cut from purchases of furniture and home improvement products has fallen from 8% to 3%, while the commission rate for grocery products has slid from 5% to 1%, according to a document obtained by CNBC.” https://www.cnbc.com/...
@stevekovach
Steve Kovach on x
Amazon slashed rates for its affiliate program. Bad news for online publishers that rely on that $$$ by @annierpalmer https://www.cnbc.com/...