Been able to buy your way in for a long time... Has only gotten worse though, you are right. I dont mind when minnows use these voting services, because they normaly cant afford any huge boost that will get them trending. Minnows boost just so their posts dont get completely buried. It is the whales that abuse this.
I didn't mind when it was possible to get a small boost. It has gotten worse now that people can send massive amounts of SBD to be promoted. I don't think it's good for steemit at all.
I have actually seen some minnows pay for giant boosts as well as whales. It's the giant boosts that I am not fond of