When bidding for papers on softconf.com as a reviewer, does it make any difference between answering no or not bidding for a paper?
I can't answer specifically for this service, but in general it can make a small difference if some papers fail to get bids. For some CS conferences, if you answer no for a paper you are unlikely to be asked again if a second round of bids is needed. If you don't answer at all, then not answering will be likely treated as more like &quot;maybe&quot; than &quot;no&quot;.
But, while not especially rare, it only happens at the margins.
But it is even possible that a desperate program chair will come back and beg even &quot;no&quot; voters for reviews in a future &quot;ask&quot;. Even less likely though.