Alphabet owns Google Search, YouTube, and the Android operating system.
Alphabet was created in 2015 as a holding company and corporate restructuring of Google. Google became a subsidiary, while Alphabet provided a broader structure for businesses and research projects beyond the core internet company.
Google remains Alphabet’s best-known business. Search advertising, YouTube advertising and subscriptions, and Google Cloud are major operations. Android, acquired through Google’s purchase of Android Inc. in 2005, became the world’s most widely used mobile operating system by global device share.
Alphabet is sometimes incorrectly called Google in corporate or stock-market questions. Google is the principal subsidiary, while Alphabet is the publicly traded parent company. Alphabet’s shares trade under the symbols GOOGL and GOOG, which differ mainly in voting rights.