However, winning ALL slots on a market dominant platform has a value unto itself, by denying competitors most revenue and forcing them to increase prices to cover fixed costs, and reduce price competition and market efficiency, strongly increasing the margins of the leader.
So the ability to pay yourself unlimited money guarantees a market dominant spot where competition is drastically diminished.
It also strongly affects Google's search incentives, making them prioritize advertising and create inventory where there was none, dying up organic trafic. This is something a profit oriented enterprise would tend to do anyway to maximize revenue, but it's a far cry from Google's original neutrality aspirations.
Let's say that winning ALL slots on a market dominant platform does have a value unto itself, and the total value is V. Then Google can consume the spots itself, but it is giving up the ability to sell the package of all slots to someone else for V. So it still costs them V.
If Google is the only one who can extract V (likely the case, since they are the ones consuming the spots), they are reaping the benefits of that fact, not of being able to sell to themselves.
So the ability to pay yourself unlimited money guarantees a market dominant spot where competition is drastically diminished.
It also strongly affects Google's search incentives, making them prioritize advertising and create inventory where there was none, dying up organic trafic. This is something a profit oriented enterprise would tend to do anyway to maximize revenue, but it's a far cry from Google's original neutrality aspirations.