Alphabet is the parent company that owns Google and is commonly ranked among the world’s largest companies by market capitalization.
Alphabet was created in 2015 through a corporate restructuring of Google. Google became a subsidiary, while Alphabet became the publicly traded holding company. The structure separated the core internet business from projects and businesses outside Google’s main products.
Alphabet’s largest operations include Google Search, YouTube, Android, Google Cloud, and advertising technology. These businesses generate most of the company’s revenue and help explain why Alphabet regularly appears near the top of global market-cap rankings.
A common mistake is to name Google as the listed parent company. Google remains the better-known consumer brand, but Alphabet is the corporate entity whose shares trade publicly. Alphabet’s main share classes trade under the symbols GOOG and GOOGL.