Alphabet’s Class A shares trade under the ticker symbol GOOGL on Nasdaq.
Alphabet has multiple publicly traded share classes. Class A shares use the ticker GOOGL and carry one vote per share, while Class C shares use the ticker GOOG and carry no voting rights. Class B shares are not publicly traded and generally carry enhanced voting power.
This structure allows the company’s founders and certain insiders to retain substantial control while outside investors buy publicly listed shares. The arrangement continued after Google reorganized under Alphabet in 2015.
Ticker symbols are often confused with company names because Alphabet’s best-known products still use the Google brand. GOOGL therefore identifies a share class of Alphabet, not a separate company or a special Google service. Alphabet’s market capitalization normally reflects the combined value of its publicly traded share classes.