Excellent write up, and I'm with you the whole way.

Not sure completely, but it's my perception that bots are getting much more difficult to "come out ahead" and that's a good thing. It means it's really not worth it for you to shit post, you need extra momentum. It's not entirely true since there are times where I think you can make profit still with bots, but I suspect that because more people are using it, it is less reliable.

Also, is it just me, it is the trending and hot pages an improvement over what I've remembered in the past?

Thank you also for the extra work you do in dismantling abuse networks and publicizing their existence. I actually think the bots are the wrong focus in general, in terms of abuse priority. The priority should be eyes on the highest earners, if they are clearly abusing their stake on (comparatively) crappy content. But I think you are already on that as well. Cheers.