Thanks for the history lesson on STEEM. That was before I was on here so I am unfamiliar, first hand, with the way things were. I know there were issues in the beginning that are no longer here. I guess bidbots create another issue although I dont bemoan anyone who creates them or uses them.
I do like that you state that they are for marketing purposes (or whatever other personal reasons) and not for a straight up profit on the post. I do agree there are reasons to get one's post ranked and on the trending page. But I fear too many look at it as a pay X and get back X + Y.
Perhaps people will read this post and understand what they are getting into when they do use a bot.