Reagrding self-publicity via Adwords

From Google's Adwords blog:

...the fact that Google advertises its own products or services using AdWords

... there are no special buttons to push or levers to pull that give our internal account managers special treatment or leverage. Quality Score is automatically evaluated in the same way for our keywords as it is for any advertiser's keywords. Likewise, the potential to show up in the top spots above the search results is the same for Google's ads as it is for any other. We rely on the AdWords system to let relevancy and usefulness to our users be the driving force behind our ad placement.

....there are no algorithm changes to 'smooth the way' for Google's ads -- and the accounts of 'competing' advertisers (should there be any for particular keywords or Ad Groups) are never referenced in any way.

Of course there's the possibility that Google bids $100 on every keyword, which is not an algorithm change or special button, but rather because doing so effectively costs them very little, if anything.

Anything can be free if you print the banknotes...