Sort:  

Right, I meant comparing to:

self-vote
whale: 150

That's really what I was getting at. I know, it seems like deflecting, because you might argue that the bid bot in between would hide it. But not really. That's why I chalk these issues to the same problem as misappropriated value. The bid bot is a distraction, but at least still distributes more than a self vote. I know, it's probably not much consolation.

it is a slight of hand trick isn't it?

Sort of. But I am angling it towards "blame the whale, not the bot" sort of thinking.