Affiliate site = Spam in google's eyes?

How to go about it

[apauto]

I'm planning out my affiliate site now, and just had a thought. With my site primarily focused on leads to other websites, what is the method of doing this without Google/Yahoo thinking it's just a spam site?

I know if you have too many links on your website that is a bad thing for SEO.

Inputs appreciated.

Thanks!

[Quadrille]

A bigger problem for affiliate sites is often duplicate content; 20,000 sites and one set of content is not unusual.

Crack that problem, and Google will treat your site as any other set of unique pages.

Affiliate pages can do well in Google; they just have their 'family' to compete with first!

[skibum]

Like any site, there has to be something that makes it unique. Develop a core of content worthy of links, modify the content & links you get from advertisers so it is different from what other people post.

[mfishy]

perhaps you give google too much credit. Get an older domain and put anything up at all...even a KW list would work lol.

If you are paranoid, simply cloak the aff link and write a bit of unique content.