SEO and affiliate programs

Will having an affiliate program affect SEO results?

[MinnesotaJim]

I am a member of CJ, which is a large affiliate program company. I have never been able to even break even in this program, even though I have more than 2,000 affiliates in my particular program. If I drop this program at Commission Junction will my results in the search engines be affected? I've kept paying the $500 or so a month thinking if I drop the program, my search engine rankings will suffer because I will lose those affiliates.

Does anyone have any experience with this or feedback?

Thank you.

[LifeinAsia]

Since the affiliates link to CJ's redirection servers instead of directly to your site, I've always questioned if there is any SEO value at all to having CJ affiliates.

The purpose of CJ is to bring in affiliate sales. If you want SEO value, you start your own in-house affiliate program. (And certainly encourage your existing affiliates to join your new program!)