I run a dozen or so affiliate sites, and I've not seen reduction in rankings - but then, I don't really use article marketing. I've always thought that relying on someone else's site to rank your pages was a failure waiting to happen. I tend to focus first on content, second on community, and third on building backlinkgs from a variety of sources.
You have to have something worthwhile before you start trying to get peoples' eyes on it.
Bookmarks