Google/YouTube might have an annoyingly complex payout scheme, but they do track how long someone views a video. While that would be hard for an article, it would be better if there was a preference for articles to be viewed and possibly read to correlate it with whatever rewards it gives.
And maybe, there could be a bot that would determine the length and quality of the article. Granted, this would put video bloggers at a disadvantage.
And while new people are here to earn money, the community was setup to make Steem worth something. So, they should focus on improving things to make sure that those are providing the content get something more out of it than those who are just recirculating it.