Well. 290 HBD per day might be a lot.
But why are we lot calculating the effort and time? Like, HW's website where everybody can report users and the guy behind HW have to go through the reports/accounts manual to check. It takes a lot of time and he gets a lot of backlash. Not to mention the cost of the website (might not be expensive, but still a cost) and if the bot (spaminator) is running on an online server that also cost money.
I think the biggest issue I have with HW, is that some of the HBD is not powered up to further the DV $$$ & The HP could be automatically voting for burning hive posts which still gives curations rewards..
Back the to funding. $290 USD a Day is a lot. But after expenses, what would the proper amount be for someone doing this?