The first, and really only, forum that I have participated in regarding SEO (search engine optimisation) and other general web stuff, is Search Guild. I am not sure how long I was a was a member for, possibly over a year, and I would drop in for a chat, ask a few questions, give some advice etc. most days. But now SearchGuild.com is dead. A combination of server hackers and poor administration from 1and1 has meant that the forum has been closed. The webmaster, Chris Ridings, as said that moving to a new hosting provider, and setting it all up again, is frankly a lot of work for little financial returns. So, what will happen to all the regulars from SearchGuild? I have set up a Facebook group, SearchGuild Lost and Found, for people looking to find their old SearchGuild buddies, and maybe even ask some SEO related questions!
What has happened to SearchGuild? Where is SearchGuild? How was SearchGuild lost? Why was the server taken down? Here is an abbreviated story of the downfall of SearchGuild.com:
On November 6th a group of hackers gained root access to the dedicated server.
On November 22nd 1and1 received an email allegedly from a foreign bank using a hotmail account that suggested an IRC server was running and giving out illegal credit card numbers.
1And1 claim they locked the server, but they locked down the wrong server, leaving SearchGuild.com still open for business.
Due to “router issues” many people from the UK could not access SearchGuild, even tohugh many from the USA and the rest of the world still could. I managed to access SearchGuild via a proxy server, and even managed to log in to say hi, but that was the last time I got on.
SearchGuild is dead, but long live SearchGuild I say. If you were a fan of SearchGuild, and want somewhere to hang out, or if you know where most have migrated to, pop over to SearchGuild Lost and Found on Facebook and let us know!
It’s a sad day for internet freedom, for forums, for security. The hackers won, and the result was a well respected web community was wiped off the face of the internet forever. SearchGuild is dead, long live SearchGuild!
