In any social media context money runs everything, so if the userbase doesn't like shilling then it'll be covert account selling or product placement a la reddit, or if the userbase doesn't care or wants to be sold product then influencers will be public and shameless about it a la instagram. We'd need the userbase size and view numbers up to get any mainstream companies interested in shilling on this website, so our relative invisibility to them is kind of a blessing in disguise. Now only if there were quality content to make that lack of outside influence worthwhile...

but how would that be determined? each account has its original content? 
Or does it affect under IP address? (I hope not! Because this would be ridiculous under a network environment)

Except you can buy verified profiles on every other platform, so what'll make steemit so exceptional in this regard?

Won't that be fantastic then
It'll be able to fix the trending page easily.
I hope this idea materializes soon