This is similar to the old eBay scam where the seller bid on his own items under a different account. If the price was too low, the seller could always bid to drive the price up. If the seller won, it didn't matter. The seller is just relisting the item again after paying himself or cancelling.

I can't imagine how anyone thought this would work; Google participating in their own auctions. At least on eBay, sellers tried to hide the fact that the game was rigged.