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I am going to post a bit of a long post and anyone who would try to answer it would have to put in what I considered to be a large effort.

I am going to give the bounty to the person answering the question to reward his effort - is it OK to write it in the post so on addition to reward such a person I could also give this as motivation in the first place, or should I wait the two days and reward the bounty (or use one to get attention to the question) ?

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    $\begingroup$ Why not just wait the two days, and add the bounty then? If there's already a great answer by then, reward it! Otherwise, the bounty may draw more attention to your question, and bring a great answer in. $\endgroup$ – RubberDuck Oct 20 '14 at 21:39
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    $\begingroup$ In addition to RubberDuck's comment: After starting the bounty you have also the opinion "One or more of the answers is exemplary and worthy of an additional bounty." So you can reward an already existing good answer, too. See math.stackexchange.com/questions/936462/… for a current example... $\endgroup$ – Stephan Kulla Oct 27 '14 at 22:23
  • $\begingroup$ @RubberDuck , I believe once you post a question, you can't announce (and therefore award) a bounty first two days. So I believe OP is not talking about waiting imposed by himself, but by system. $\endgroup$ – VividD Oct 30 '14 at 5:48
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This is somewhat similar to informal standing bounties that were practiced (at small scale) a while ago.

My opinion is that the intent to set the bounty is best communicated via a comment, because it is a matter incidental to the question, not a part of the question itself. (A discreet note within the body of a long question could also be okay. But definitely not in the title.)

As an aside, I am skeptical regarding the effectiveness of such promises. To see them, one has to read the question first; at that point, it's the reader's interest in the question that drives their decision to work on the question, not a promise of imaginary internet points.

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    $\begingroup$ I'm not skeptical. In my experience bounties are often useful motivators. Human psychology. $\endgroup$ – Cheerful Parsnip Oct 18 '14 at 15:20
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    $\begingroup$ Right, but actual bounties are also visible when you first see the name of the question listed. So they may motivate people to even read a question. $\endgroup$ – JHance Oct 18 '14 at 15:59

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