I am also not opposed to the bots, but another element is if I spend 100 steem to get a vote that equals 105 steem. I removed 100 steem from the reward pool and it didn't go to other authors.
I also like some of the bidbot owners, but I am really tired of them not fighting the abuse they create.
Just one way in which this article only has part of the facts. To add to your statement, bidbots leverage their greater SP to get liquid assets in exchange for the directly illiquid vote. This is not even to mention that the vote is no guarantee it will deliver value, every post and comment after all invites votes from anyone, whereas the liquid STEEM the bidbot owner now has is guaranteed.
I already mentioned that I had no opinion on Bidbots. The point of this post wasn't to debate the positives and negatives of them, just to mention that they are currently not offering a good value and that has everything to do with the way Steem is currently being paid out because of its supposed median price.