Google turns 28: From search engine to Alphabet parent company

Google turned 28 on September 4, marking nearly three decades since Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded the company as a search engine. But the company they created has grown far beyond search. Today, Google operates under Alphabet, a parent company that spans internet services, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, self-driving technology and other businesses. The choice of the name Alphabet also came from an unusual decision between the two cofounders. Larry Page had chosen the name Google, so when Alphabet was created, he gave Brin the chance to choose its name. “I chose Google, so [Sergey] chose Alphabet,” Page said. The decision reflected their plans for a company that could grow beyond Google's original business.

Google's original name was inspired by “googol”, a mathematical term for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros. The name reflected the huge amount of information the founders hoped their search engine could organise and make available online. Over time, however, Page and Brin's ambitions expanded beyond search. Google developed businesses and projects in areas ranging from video and cloud computing to artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles. That expansion eventually led to the creation of Alphabet as Google's parent company.

Larry Page did not take full credit for the new company's name. “I wanted to have a name that people would be proud to work for,” Page said in a 2014 discussion with Khosla Ventures. He explained that he did not want the name to become another consumer brand in the same way Google had. Instead, Alphabet was intended to serve as a broader company structure for businesses that could sit alongside Google. Page later explained the division of responsibility between the two cofounders in a simple sentence: “I chose Google, so [Sergey] chose Alphabet.” The name was reportedly not tested with consumers before it was announced. Page said Alphabet was mainly intended as a brand for employees and investors.

The creation of Alphabet allowed Google's founders to separate the core Google business from other projects. The company could continue operating Search, YouTube and other services while Alphabet served as the parent company for businesses and projects outside Google's main operations. Larry Page also disagreed with the idea that a large company should focus on only a small number of products. “I always thought it was kind of stupid if you have this big company, and you can only do, like, five things,” he said.