is it possible to achive high results with link exchange ? for example, if you have 10k links which are exchanged (so you have linkbacks on your site to those sites too), would you get decent search engine traffic ? why am i asking ? because i have lot of linkexchange on one of my sites, but i see google doesn't show any linkback from that exchange sites .. so i guess it doesnt' respect those links ? also, if you link to everyone, you have a chance to link to a bad or banned site, and because of that wouldn't your ranking decrease ?
If you do link exchanges with absolutely unrelated sites, or most of your links are on pages that are linking to almost every kind of websites imaginable, I donot think, it will help much. Think quality here. A few hundred well placed links from very relevant pages can tip the balance in your favor against thousands of links from unrelated pages on unrelated websites. Yes if you link to a grey-barred banned site, your ranking will decrease. I committed the same mistake last year and learnt a lot from it.
The answer it's yes.It it's possibile.But take real care about it, if you link to a banned site, or risky site, you can be banned from Master Google.
Google encourages natural links. Therefore, only link to relevant sites to increase your SERP. For your last question, yes. If you link to a bad site, it will definitely affect your ranking negatively.
Did you check to see if the links page on your link exchange partner's site is indexed by google? If they are not indexed, they will not show up. That is one of the main things I check before I do a link exchange. Make sure the link page is indexed in google. Also, stick to quality, related links and you will be rewarded. Don't just link out to anyone.