"The bots exist to make their creators money...they are a business so it's safe to assume you will lose money on average."

I am almost positive you are going here in part 3, so I'll just say:

We also have to consider the "promotional" value of these upvotes. Getting into hot, trending, catching eyes with a larger payout, etc.

But, I bet you did exactly that in the part 3 I am about to read...