Alphabet owns Google and trades under the stock symbols GOOGL and GOOG.
Alphabet was created in 2015 as a holding company for Google and several businesses that had previously been organized under Google. Google remains Alphabet’s largest and best-known business, including search, advertising, YouTube, and Android.
The two principal share symbols reflect different voting rights. GOOGL shares are Class A shares with voting rights, while GOOG shares are Class C shares without voting rights. Alphabet also has Class B shares, which are mainly held by insiders and carry enhanced voting power.
Alphabet is frequently mistaken for the name of Google’s search engine, but the corporate parent is Alphabet Inc. Its market capitalization therefore represents the value of the broader group, not only search activity.