It used to be the same 15-20 people were in trending for 2k posts every time.  It's different now.  it went from teh chosen dozen to anyone with money to spend.  

I know that people want the best content to rise up rather than the people with the most money to spend.  I'm not against that if there's a good way to do it, which I think comes from altering downvoting so it doesn't cost people money to do.  

The crusade again bid bots is often a crusade against platform investors that want a profitable return as opposed to interested in reading 20 articles about Canadian Deer Testicles every day to find the best one.