Good or bad up vote bots have become a huge part of Steemit. If you aren't buying votes you are getting votes. So lets take a look at the two main kinds of bots and which one is right for you.
SOURCE:PIXABAY
The most prolific up vote bot is the bid bot. Running a bid bot has many positives to the operator of the bot. They are simple to operate compared to a instant up vote bot and the income from them is fairly predictable.
Now if you are thinking that since there are so many of them bid bots must be the best for the users stop right their. They aren't in all cases. This is one case where supply has dictated popularity and not demand. The instant vote bots' up vote strength can't keep up with demand and I'm sure if they had an unlimited supply you would see many of the bid bots go under.
SOURCE:PIXABAY
The problem with bid bots is that if you are using them in an attempt to achieve a positive ROI it's like playing a slot machine at the casino. Yes you might get lucky some of the time but it's a long term loser and the odds are in the house's favor.
Bid bots pay out based on how much you bid divided by how much the total of all bids for the bidding round were. The problem with that is that if the bids exceed the payout amount of the up vote from the bot you will receive a raw loss on your bid. This matter is made worse by the fact when the post pays out you will lose some of that up vote to curation as well.
SOURCE:PIXABAY
So are bid bots a bad bet?
Not always. If you've got a lot of SBD's to spend on them in order to get you post on the trending page for a few days the extra up votes you get while it's there can make using them very profitable. If you're just a minnow with a few SBD's you are better off with the instant up vote bots.
List of all the up vote bots can be found at: https://steembottracker.com/
SOURCE:PIXABAY
So where should a minnow turn to promote their post and ensure themselves of a positive ROI? That would be the instant up vote bots. Two of three main bots, @smartmarket and @minnowbooster, Work much in the same way. You send them SBD's and they up vote your post for about 200+% of what you sent. Right now @smartmarket has much more up voting strength so I'd check their first. Both have websites that will help you find out what their voting strength is. @smartmarket website is http://smartsteem.com and @minnowbooster is http://minnowbooster.com
The third main instant up vote bot is the originator of up vote services, @randowhale. Unlike the other two he's not up and running 24/7 so you need to check his steemit page to see if he is awake or sleeping to recover from his last round of voting. With him you send a set amount, right now 1 SBD, and get an up vote that varies but is usually positive ROI. Occasionally you'll get a random big up vote worth a bunch of SBD's.
SOURCE:PIXABAY
So if you're a little minnow with precious few SBD's you should stick to the sure thing of the instant up vote bots, but if you've got a bunch(I'd say 100 per post or more) of SBD's to spend you are going to need to use the bid bots if for no other reason there isn't enough vote strength to service your needs with the instant up vote bots. Think of it like going to Burger King looking for a T-bone.