Don’t see that this has been mentioned, but many Power Spots have been imported, thus they are not required to follow Wayfarer criteria. There are unused Wayspots that do get used as Power Spots from time to time, but most that you’ll see will likely be imports. Here’s more info on that:
I think others have discussed how this could cause possible legal issues in some places, such as trespassing. While we are told to play based on the laws of our community, Wayfarer has also taken action to make sure that Wayspots do not end up on single family private residential property (SFPRP for short).
Again, it does seem as though you may need to review the criteria and guidelines better, maybe even do some reviewing yourself. If you do find Wayspots that seem to not meet criteria, such as one on SFPRP, you can request removal.
BTW, I think PoGo is making quite a good amount of money still, as there are multiple events every month with paid tickets, not to mention the new rewards system that was launched this year to give rewards when one makes purchases; it seems there is always an event on the weekend, and this past weekend had Fossil Research Day, which had its own paid ticket. We have many here that go to in-person events that have paid tickets (something I’ve never been able to do), and many who buy global tickets for events like GO Fest as soon as the are available. So, if PoGo was broken, it still wouldn’t be bringing in the money it does, and Scopely most likely wouldn’t have paid as much as it did to get it, Wayfarer, and some of the other games.
I think looking at this issue from a money point of view isn’t the best, as Wayfarer doesn’t cost anything to participate in. All that is asked of users is to be at a certain level in PoGo, follow the criteria and guidelines, and have a mobile device connected to the internet to submit with. Yes, you may pay for your phone/tablet and internet/data service, but everything Wayfarer provides is free to the user.