Debate over brand favoritism for predictive search menus

In a recent interview for Fast Company, a head engineer for Google stated that Google does not play favorites with brands over other searches for predictive results. This statement runs contrary to some recent data by ComScore, which shows a marked preference for brand related search keywords. Supposedly, the Google system is not programmed to play favorites with brands specifically, but through strict mathematical modeling, brands may have an alphabetical advantage over other words. When a user types "Walmart", there is a higher chance of click through than the term "walrus" for example. Due to these high potential for click throughs, brand keywords rank seemingly or clearly higher than other keywords.