Honestly the best thing you can do is simply ignore these haters when you advertisement. Don't stoop to their level. Just show good behavior on the server when interacting with non-guildies, and eventually it will go over.

Of the above suggestions, number 1 is probably the better choice. Yes, it shows your guild is prone to drama, but what guild isn't? It's part of human culture. If you catch someone hating your guild, you could even simply whisper them privately about the issue. Like Scott said, be calm and ask why they don't like the guild, and why they would spread such rumors. Considering it's trade chat, they likely will not know what they are talking about, and can be easily stomped. If they have a logical reason, be open to suggestions. Ask what you could do to improve their experience with your guild. Just being open to suggestions can also change people's opinions about your guild.
Just try not to make it public unless you absolutely have to. And in that case, be calm and do as Scott said and host a little Q&A session of sorts to dispel rumors.
While you do the above suggestions, try to recall the main culprits, and any major insulters, and report them for the issue. It is a form of harassment and is punishable. If reporting doesn't work (and sadly, it doesn't always), make friends with other guild masters on the server, talk with them personally, and you might be able to blacklist a few of these haters from the server. I don't recommend doing this though unless it's a last resort, as it takes a lot of effort, especially if you're starting from scratch and you have no prior alliances.

I'm a guild master of over four years, and we've had a minor version of what happened to Stressed... most of my suggestions are based out of experience and discussion with fellow officers when this issue was occurring.

Main thing to remember though is that trade chat is filled with trolls. Most of their comments are meaningless banter that can be easily refuted.

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