I think it'd be illuminating to see some overview stats on the submission dates and authors of all questions, accepted and not. Is something like this available somewhere?

Isn't that what class actions were literally made for? Granted it may not be enough people to be worth pursuing yet.

Take them to small claims court. You can self-represent (not all that complex), they've to pay a lawyer to show up -- they're already in the hole for way more than they promised. Multiply this by the number of people, yeah they'd be praying for a CAL.

But then I'm paying hundreds or thousands of dollars of my time for maybe a few hundred dollars gain. Sure, it's more expensive for them in absolute terms, but it's more expensive for me in relative terms. Not going to get hundreds of people to do this. A class-action lawsuit can actually be positive EV for everyone involved.

(Actually, I don't know whom they'd send -- I think, for small claims court, they have to send a paralegal rather than a lawyer.)