Ubuntu Unity Changes Aim For More Affiliate Revenue

Changes coming to the Ubuntu 12.10 Unity desktop, namely to its Dash launcher component, are trying to generate Canonical more affiliate revenue through promoting more online purchases.

Oliver Ries has posted a message to the ubuntu-devel mailing list for laying out these changes that will appear in next month's Ubuntu 12.10 desktop release.

When searching through music/audio and video content in the Unity Dash lens, online content is to be shown where if a user purchases the content after clicking on it, Canonical generates money. Additionally, the launcher web apps for Amazon and the Ubuntu One Music Store are now going to be enabled by default to try to boost Canonical's affiliate revenue.

Canonical already has been earning affiliate revenue through purchases made via the Ubuntu One Music Store as well as through the Google search bar in Firefox. They previously tried using Yahoo search by default to earn more money but then ended up changing their stance following three months of complaints. There was also the more recent Banshee controversy about Canonical taking affiliate sales from music purchased through the open-source software.