Google was founded in 1998 by Larry Page and Sergey Brin and became one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Page and Brin developed Google’s search engine while they were graduate students at Stanford University. The company was incorporated on September 4, 1998, and its search technology helped organize the rapidly expanding World Wide Web.
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was created in 2015. Alphabet owns Google and other businesses, so market-cap rankings often list Alphabet rather than Google as the publicly traded company. Google remains the consumer-facing brand behind Search, YouTube, Android, and many online advertising products.
A common mix-up is treating Google and Alphabet as separate publicly traded companies. Google is a subsidiary and operating brand; Alphabet is the listed parent whose shares determine the group’s market capitalization.