Rickard was famed for his fiery editorials and "love/hate" relationship with many of the ISP industry's major players (including a controversial 1997 magazine cover about peering disputes which depicted John Sidgmore of UUNet attempting to blow up MAE-East in a scene reminiscent of the Oklahoma City bombing).
Searchlight BBS rapidly grew in popularity, and appeared frequently in Boardwatch magazine and at BBS conventions across the United States.
In April 1992, Swindell's employer went out of business and he began to rely exclusively on commercial sales of Synchronet for his livelihood, placing advertisements in the BBS-related magazines Boardwatch and BBS Callers Digest.