I think we all agree that steempress is a very useful entity. So is this advertisement? Last month, many thousands of SBD went to the bots from many respected entities.

Indeed it is an advertisement.

Steempress could be useful to thousands of people, that's true. There's nothing wrong with promoting it. That's how this business works.

Those thousands of people should be encouraged and eager to vote, for free. Meanwhile, those thousands of people can then use steempress and have a fair shake at true trending status because the ads were placed in the correct location and labelled as such.

Nobody loses money if things are put where they belong. We don't see ads in the trending section of Facebook, or anywhere else, for a reason. They're always kept separate, even on television. The ads still get hits.

Everyone stands a chance to earn more if it's done properly. Advertisers or someone who needs to promote something can buy STEEM. Place ads on blogs. Pay blogs ad revenue with STEEM for those hits. Then, even those who aren't fortunate enough to be able to generate ad revenue still benefit if they're holding STEEM.

Do it right, everyone wins. Investors, witnesses, developers, bloggers, advertisers. All of them.

• Edit. You've updated your post to disclose how much you spent. 125 SBD is worth roughly $700.00 US. My opinion. That's crazy.