I read you guys got banned from Google search results. Was that just in Germany or everywhere?

My suggestion would be to start a link exchange of your own. There are a lot of people with their own websites out there who might be willing to trade links with you.

I do have some experience in link exchanges. You will want a fully automated program that will give admin approval or rejection of links before being posted on the site and you will want your program to automatically check for reciprocal links at least once a month to make sure your link hasn't been removed. Don't want to send traffic to someone who isn't sending you any, right? Also, only trade text links and make it personal. Don't let people link to your site with your website name and generic description; have them link to you with a personal recommendation for your site. People will always trust a friendly word of advice over a blink click.

These are my thoughts, take 'em or leave 'em. I hope they help.