Is link trading bad for seo these days?

I heard something about it after one update a half year ago or so.. that link trade is not valued as much and can harm ones sites.. anyone know?

 

This depends, I remember watching a video from Matt Cutts where he says that link exchanges are an inevitable part how content is shared across the web. If you imagine a news site that posts about gadgets linking to a retailer that very same retailer may want to link to the news site as it provides value to their own customers. This link exchange is natural and called for. However link exchanges with low quality and "spammy" sites may boost rankings in the short time but it will leave you very vulnerable in the long-term.

 

they still work, although are less effective than they once were.

 

I don't really have much experience in this, but I guess it's still work.

Always avoid trading links with low quality, spammy sites though.