Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that some marketers accused Google of favoring Google-generated content in search results. Now engineers for the search giant are speaking out against brand […]

Just yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that some marketers accused Google of favoring Google-generated content in search results. Now engineers for the search giant are speaking out against brand bias in Instant search results.

In an interview with Fast Company, Google Fellow and head of the company's search quality, ranking and algorithm team Amit Singhal says Google Instant does not play favorites when it comes to brands in suggested queries.

Immediately following the release of Google Instant, some cried foul because suggested queries were dominated by major brands. But Google insists this is a matter of mathematical probability, and no results have been bought.

"What we do at Google and what we've done for years is to not inject any subjectivity into these algorithms," Singhal told the source. He claims Google Instant's predicted queries and instant results are a matter of "pure mathematical modeling," with the exception of objectionable results. (As Brafton has reported, Google Instant won't talk dirty.)

With this in mind, marketers may need to focus on keyword optimization to catch suggested queries and clicks through Google Instant. The investment in content marketing with Instant in mind could pay off. According to MediaPost, comScore officials released data at last week's Search Insider Summit indicating that 22 percent of Google searches conducted in October used Google Instant.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.