Google’s nascent range of hardware products is growing, and don’t we know it. A thoroughly executed marketing campaign has ensured that the Pixel is ubiquitous, emblazoned as it is across print media, TV, and most conspicuously, online ads.

It’s no secret that Alphabet Inc’s Google operates the biggest advertising platform in the world, shifting the highly coveted (and prominent) ad space above its search results; it captured 31% of digital advertising revenue last year, according to eMarketer. What’s more surprising is the extent to which Google’s top ad spots are saturated with its own products, prompting scrutiny from The Wall Street Journal.

Analysis was conducted thus: SEMrush, an ad-data firm, ran 1,000 searches of 25 terms on a desktop computer that blocked browsing history. The results were predictable enough, with Google and Nest products dominating the “most prominent spot” 91% of the time. Moreover, 99.9% of all searches for “smartphones” began with “three consecutive ads” from the Google Store for the Pixel.

When the formidable WSJ shared its results with Google, something telling happened: ads placed in top spots dropped to 19%. What’s more, the Journal noted that “nearly all” Google Store ads had disappeared. Google declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Google has maintained a veneer of good faith, arguing that its marketing campaigns have been “consciously and carefully designed” not to affect competing advertisers. It upholds the defence that its ads only appear atop search results because of their high quality, and the price that the company is willing to pay itself.

The allocation of ad space is controlled by a top-secret algorithm that gives Google autonomy, meaning that in the godless world of online ad sales, Google plays god. That being said, its practice of promoting its own products and services is facing mounting scrutiny. For now, Google is embroiled in a dispute with the European Union’s antitrust regulator, which alleges that it favours its own comparison-shopping service over rivals in its search results.