[30944836]

>they have every right to claim the profit that currently the bots are taking

Consumers don't see it this way. They often latch on to completely "irrational" cues in forming opinions of a brand. See: "Apple Tax." Note: I put "irrational" in quotes to indicate that consumers exhibit un-intuitive behavior. It's not actually a value judgement about the behavior itself, only indicating that in a purely supply-and-demand driven market environment, these behaviors would not be exhibited.

[mjfl]

The Apple tax is a really bad example for your argument though because Apple is one of the most profitable companies in the world and has not apparently paid very much for this 'bad rep'.

[30944836]

That the term 'Apple Tax' exists shows that there is a reputation hit and shows that consumers are price conscious in ways that do not take into account supply and demand as a sole or primary factor when determining their brand sentiment. That Apple is the most profitable in comparison to other companies says nothing about how profitable it could be if the negative brand perception didn't exist.

[scarface74]

Apple already has the most valuable brand

https://www.forbes.com/the-worlds-most-valuable-brands/