Google created the Google search engine and became Alphabet Inc.'s largest business.
Google began as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University. The company was incorporated in 1998, and its search engine became widely used because PageRank helped organize results by analyzing links between webpages.
Alphabet was created in 2015 as Google's parent company. Google remains responsible for the search engine, online advertising, YouTube, Android, Chrome, and other major products. Alphabet's other businesses include research and technology units grouped under the label Other Bets.
A common mix-up is treating Google and Alphabet as interchangeable company names. Google is the operating company and brand most users encounter, while Alphabet is the corporate parent. Google Search is also distinct from Google Chrome, which is a web browser.