I'm confused with a currency that's traded on multiple platforms how can bots "hurt" the price of steem? The price/value of steem is determined solely by the fact if you have more buyers or sellers.

Your 80% largest complainers are always your lowest 20% of your supporters. Ignore them. Your business/bot will be better off for it.

One thing I'm noticing and loving more and more about steemit is it's a free market. If they don't like it let them go somewhere else.

I think since your bot was so big it's been the first to upvote with such power to take an article to the front of steemit. Every bot will one day be facing this issues you're just the unlucky front-runner to be pacing the way in discovering, dealing, and solving such issues.