Bots: FACTS & FIGURES. (Part One)

Ever since the “Bid Bots” as we call them came out onto the market, there has been a lot of talk about them.
Most of the talk is either pro or anti “Bidbot” with a lot of opinion or partial information that is hard to track or completely left out.

Some time last year I was trying to accumulate first hand data on the id bots, however, due to the simple fact that I didn’t have the finances to do so, I kept my “playing with bots” limited and with all the fluctuations in prices and the overall reduction of bidbots available, this was just not effective.

Prior to Christmas 2018, I was able to get to some fiat and I invested it into Steem.

Now that I had the money, I could do what I had set out to accomplish over half a year earlier.
However, to be totally honest, I didn’t think of it straight away.

What I initially did was loan out Steem to some of the community and project accounts for them to be promoted.
Note: all profits remaining to the communities and projects being promoted.

While doing so, it occurred to me that this was the perfect opportunity to go the extra mile.

Now, I understand that investing a few thousand Steem into first hand testing of services out there is somewhat risky, but then again, I did say that I was going to do this and relay ALL the Stats and Facts publicly in posts.

There are many aspects to cover in this process, for example:

Invested Steem vs Payouts (aka “profits” or “losses”)
Time invested
The “Trending” page (as it is called)
Comments, reactions, feedback etc.
An accounts “Reputation” score (affects on etc)

These are just some of the things that are of general interest, then there are the actual bidbots.

I shall not go into any individual bidbot by name. I respect that they are privately owned business ventures and as such need to be addressed professionally.

I shall not at any point impose any of my “opinions” when stating stats and facts.

Any and all suggestions that I may or may not include shall be just that, general suggestions based on the stats and facts, with no intention of presenting them as something that any bidbot owner is expected to take action upon.

I shall always, when doing this make sure that it is made clear how this hands on testing and all stats and facts are based upon the listed posts at their given time and at the rates at which SBD and Steem were going at the time of using them.

None of the information that I shall relay is being done so with any intention of promoting any service or in any way to be taken as a suggestion to use any service that is out on the free market, including but not limited to the bidbots and other upvoting services offered.

None of these posts are in any which way, form or manner “advice”.

All of the posts in this series are simply relaying Stats and Facts from the listed posts.

---

This post with all this said shall be a part of this series and as such is a part of ALL future posts in the series of posts in which I shall be addressing this topic.

---

The original post in which I announced that I shall be doing this is:

Experimenting With Bots & The Importance of Communtiy Bots (Services).
https://steemit.com/bots/@jackmiller/experimenting-with-bots-and-the-importance-of-communtiy-bots-services

---

Why didn’t I mention anything about all this prior to proceeding with it?

My logic was rather simple.

I will give an example that most people have heard of to date.

A Mystery Diner, Restaurant Critic, Inspector, Reviewer or whatever else these people do.
They don’t announce to the restaurant owners that they are coming in for a meal, now do they!

For obvious reasons.
They want to experience the service first hand, as a consumer.

OK, maybe that wasn’t the best of examples, but it does get my point across.

Here is another example.

A test shopper in a store.

None of the staff in a store know of this person, not even the store manager.

This way it is assured that they get the real experience, without any possibility of any interference from anyone during their “consumer experience”.

Either one, which ever you feel can be used as a good parallel.

---

Where am I up to at this point?

I do believe that I have only 3 posts left upon which I need to use bidbots so as to e able to collect all the precise data needed for me to finish off what I started.

So why am I writing about it now and not after the fact?

Well, on Thursday I should be participating in the SOS show, held by @pennsif.
& I wanted to ensure that it was all made open to the public prior to the show.
At one stage there I was considering “announcing it” during the show, but that could have been considered to be “self promotion” and abuse of the air time. So I decided not to go down that path. Hence this post.

---

What posts to date shall the stats be collected from?

Here is the list of posts to date:

@UMVbot - Military Veterans of Steem - Upvote Bot - Update - 15 December 2018.
https://steemit.com/veterans/@umvbot/umvbot-military-veterans-of-steem-upvote-bot-update-15-december-2018

@UMVbot - Military Veterans of Steem - Upvote Bot - Update - 23 December 2018.
https://steemit.com/veterans/@umvbot/umvbot-military-veterans-of-steem-upvote-bot-update-23-december-2018

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays
https://steemit.com/veterans/@shadow3scalpel/merry-christmas-seasons-greatings-happy-holidays

Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, Happy Holidays
https://steemit.com/veterans/@shadow3scalpel/merry-christmas-seasons-greatings-happy-holidays

@LIFESAVERS • A Way to Give Credit Where Credit Is Due! ♥️ Our Way of Saying THANKS!
https://steemit.com/lifesavers/@lifesavers/lifesavers-a-way-to-give-credit-where-credit-is-due-love-our-way-of-saying-thanks

HAPPY NEW YEAR from @LIFESAVERS - STEEM ON!
https://steemit.com/lifesavers/@lifesaver/happy-new-year-from-lifesavers-steem-on

@Witnesspage - Update
https://steemit.com/witness/@witnesspage/witnesspage-update

CONTEST: 150 STEEM - "PROMOting STEEM" - GO 4 IT! (Closes 31 December)
https://steemit.com/promo-steem/@steemaustralia/3dv7fn-contest-150-steem-promoting-steem-go-4-it-closes-31-december

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS! & A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
https://steemit.com/christmas/@millers/we-wish-you-a-merry-christmas-and-a-happy-new-year

Photo Story Telling of Christmas 2018
https://steemit.com/photo/@millers/photo-story-telling-of-christmas-2018

@millers - Family Budgeting, Financial Plans & Goals of 2018 Recap.
https://steemit.com/budgeting/@millers/millers-family-budgeting-financial-plans-and-goals-of-2018-recap
"Goodnight Post" - Those Were The Days My Friends!
https://steemit.com/funnies/@mypics/goodnight-post-those-were-the-days-my-friends

@jackmiller & @millers WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
https://steemit.com/happynewyear/@mypics/jackmiller-and-millers-wishing-everyone-a-happy-new-year

New Years Resolution (G'DAY Post) - "BUGGER ME"
https://steemit.com/funnies/@mypics/new-years-resolution-g-day-post-bugger-me

The Advantages Of Having A Muck Around Account! (G'DAY POST)
https://steemit.com/funnies/@mypics/the-advantages-of-having-a-muck-around-account-g-day-post

Why I Want An Account For Having Fun & Enjoying My Steemian Experience. by @jackmiller
https://steemit.com/steemian/@mypics/why-i-want-an-account-for-having-fun-and-enjoying-my-steemian-experience-by-jackmiller

Have You Heard About The "TOO NUTS" Show Yet?
https://steemit.com/toonuts/@mypics/have-you-hear-about-the-too-nuts-show-yet

Spunkee Monkee Kickstarter Promotion
https://steemit.com/steemians/@mypics/spunkee-monkee-kickstarter-promotion

There Are Many Things That I Love About Being An Aussie! (Goodnight Post)
https://steemit.com/funny/@mypics/there-are-many-things-that-i-love-about-being-an-aussie-goodnight-post

Would You Like To Make "@fundraisers" Happen on Steem? WELL IF YOU DO, THEN READ THIS.
https://steemit.com/business/@fundraisers/would-you-like-to-make-fundraisers-happen-on-steem-well-if-you-do-then-read-this

Would You Like To Make "@classifieds" Happen on Steem? WELL IF YOU DO, THEN READ THIS.
https://steemit.com/business/@classifieds/would-you-like-to-make-classifieds-happen-on-steem-well-if-you-do-then-read-this

---

What accounts shall the expected three posts be posted by?

2 more by @mypics & possibly one by my testing account @labrat

What am I going to do with any profits (if they exist)?

I will probably do one of two things, either donate them or delegate them, idk, but I do know that I shall use them to help out community projects.
As I have done with a lot of my Steem to date. As I say, “I can always earn more, so why not”.

---

Who am I going to tag in this post?

I have decided to tag some of the relevant people out there, who I know won’t go around talking about it.
As from what I see, I seriously doubt that this post shall be read y many people and the fact that I won’t be sharing it to the account @mypics reduces any potential “influence”. (Based on what I have seen to date).

---

I wish to again state that this is not a “witch hunt” of any sort, nor shall any “opinions” as such be put forwards.
It is for the sole purpose of ensuring that a consumer experience, along with all the relevant stats and facts are presented transparently, openly and publicly.
Likewise, the goal of this testing is to help ensure first hand precise information be available so that it can be used for the good of all Steemians.

---

I guess the following parties should be made aware of this endeavour:

@pennsif , @steemcleaners , @patrice , @guiltyparties , @whatsup , @anthonyadavisii ,

& these two accounts that I am not sure of exactly who they are, but saw that some troll was calling upon them in the comments of one post: @steemflagrewards , @abusereports

If any of these persons or groups want to contact me, please do so at any time via Discord, same name and surname/ username, I’m no “phantom”.
Likewise, now that I have a precise source of data, if there is anything that you would like me to look into and extract from this testing process, please forward me what it is and if I haven’t already got it on my list I will add it (if it is possible).

---

Glad to have finally been able to get the job done without any hickups and except for a few frustrating trolls here and there who aroused my need to let off some steam because of their lack of ability to look any further than what was in front of their noses, it has gone very smoothly and I truly believe that this shall help everyone on Steem as far as Bidbots, Bots and “Trending” are concerned.

Without any “hearsay” all backed with Tx # (data from the blockchain).

---

Appreciate your time, hope to get all this finished NLT by the end of next week and then start presenting the results and data to the public without the “FUD”.

PS. I deliberately did not include any "clickbait" type of graphics in this post. For obvious reasons, I am also interested in seeing some of the stats from this post, based on the behavioral patterns I have seen on the above listed posts. So that I can make a clear comparison later on. ;)

Yours truly