# Google is now Alphabet **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 11, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545 "2015-08-11T13:54:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/1 "2015-08-11T13:54:56Z")
[Google has dramatically reorganized](http://www.wsj.com/articles/google-creates-new-company-alphabet-1439240645?mod=pls_whats_news_us_business_f)and is now part of a holding company called Alphabet. Larry Page and Sergey Brin become CEO and President, respectively, of Alphabet. Google will still do Google things like search, Android, YouTube, etc. But other activities like Google X, Nest and a handful of others will fall under the Alphabet umbrella. I don’t know what the writing on the wall means. The linked article says it’s to show more transparency to shareholders, but I really don’t think that was necessary. The revenue winners are still under the Google name. The other stuff under Alphabet is more research related. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/2 "2015-08-11T16:16:48Z")
Awkward, but sounds good to me. Google does SO MUCH as a company. And much of their stuff flops. But their search engine and advertising will never be flops and will always DOMINATE THE WORLD. All the other stuff they do like Space X and the driverless car are bringing down the numbers of the good stuff. So why not split them up? Funny thing, the way I heard about this new name/reorganization thing is the buzz around here being that [some guy from Cleveland has @Alphabet as a Twitter handle](http://www.clevescene.com/scene-and-heard/archives/2015/08/11/google-reorganizes-as-alphabet-unsuspecting-cleveland-man-with-twitter-handle-alphabet-hammered-with-attention). People are waiting for him to become a millionaire! ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/3 "2015-08-11T16:44:27Z")
I’m mostly surprised that there isn’t already some major company around called Alphabet. It’s seems like an obvious name for a business in any number of fields, when you think about it. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/4 "2015-08-11T16:46:03Z")
The buried lede here is that Sundar Pichai is now running Google. (The real Google that actually makes money, minus all the other stuff.) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/5 "2015-08-11T17:20:25Z")
The reorganization may have been simply to keep Sundar at Google. I believe he was offered the CEO position at Twitter–and he would have been in high demand as CEO elsewhere. Top people often would rather be the top dog (CEO) at a smaller firm even if they could make more money as part of a larger firm. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/6 "2015-08-11T17:30:00Z")
That’s right, because Pichai’s name had been linked to high profile positions at other companies, such as Microsoft, at some point. Now Google’s got him locked down. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/7 "2015-08-11T17:38:05Z")
Notice the website is [http://abc.xyz/](http://abc.xyz/)? When did we get a .xyz top-level domain? (And how many people used the string “abc.xyz” as a generic URL to test programs, sure that it would never be used?) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/8 "2015-08-11T19:03:06Z")
If you go to the abc.xyz website and expand the whole announcement, look for the phrase “our drone delivery effort” and click on the period that follows. There’s an Easter egg there. (I found it amusing but you may not.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/9 "2015-08-11T19:09:19Z")
[And they’re already running into trouble from BMW.](http://www.engadget.com/2015/08/11/google-alphabet-bmw-trademark/) ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/10 "2015-08-11T21:30:19Z")
I’m a bit surprised Amazon didn’t already snag alphabet, due to the A-\>Z in their logo. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/11 "2015-08-12T04:06:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If you go to the abc.xyz website and expand the whole announcement, look for the phrase “our drone delivery effort” and click on the period that follows. There’s an Easter egg there. (I found it amusing but you may not.) Thanks for the link - I assure you I found it amusing. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/12 "2015-08-12T05:56:23Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > When did we get a .xyz top-level domain? You can [propose ICANN](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains#Proposed_internationalized_ccTLDs) for one that suits you, and I guess if you’re Google you get some amount of priority. (I remember when I worked at an ISP, all domains had to get approval from Melbourne IT, the local domain registry. And now? _Everyone_ has to go through Melbourne IT as they run the whole shebang!) ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/13 "2015-08-12T06:15:27Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If you go to the abc.xyz website and expand the whole announcement, look for the phrase “our drone delivery effort” and click on the period that follows. There’s an Easter egg there. (I found it amusing but you may not.) I didn’t get it, since I don’t watch the show it’s based on. But when I googled the name to see what the joke was, I found [this amusing article](http://searchengineland.com/alphabet-hidden-link-to-hooli-227610). Apparently Google bans links like that. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/14 "2015-08-12T12:06:49Z")
A few years ago, if you had asked me which tech giant will still be as dominant 10 years from now as it is today, I would have said Google first and the others would be a distant second. Now I’m not so sure anymore. It seems like Google’s been dabbling in so many projects lately that it’s losing focus and allowing Facebook and Apple more time to strategize across different media, platforms, disciplines, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/15 "2015-08-12T12:28:13Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > If you go to the abc.xyz website and expand the whole announcement, look for the phrase “our drone delivery effort” and click on the period that follows. There’s an Easter egg there. (I found it amusing but you may not.) Ha! How on Earth did you find that? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/16 "2015-08-12T12:32:04Z")
I didn’t find it. I read a mention of it elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/17 "2015-08-12T17:26:57Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > A few years ago, if you had asked me which tech giant will still be as dominant 10 years from now as it is today, I would have said Google first and the others would be a distant second. Now I’m not so sure anymore. It seems like Google’s been dabbling in so many projects lately that it’s losing focus and allowing Facebook and Apple more time to strategize across different media, platforms, disciplines, etc. I think that’s kind of the point of this move. The transparency comes in the form of a clear separation of the Google stuff (the revenue winners) from all the other research themed stuff. I don’t know if shareholders are convinced, but I guess it’s not a bad idea. I do think that 10 years from now Google will still be dominating the tech world. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/google-is-now-alphabet/727545/18 "2015-08-12T20:13:11Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > I think that’s kind of the point of this move. The transparency comes in the form of a clear separation of the Google stuff (the revenue winners) from all the other research themed stuff. I don’t know if shareholders are convinced, but I guess it’s not a bad idea. > > I do think that 10 years from now Google will still be dominating the tech world. I agree. I’m no expert, but a few years ago I would have said tech is too volatile to predict any current company’s staying power, and failures like Okut, G+, and more recently Glass had me questioning the value of the Google brand. This move shows that they know where their core competencies are, but at the same time they’re diversifying beyond web based technologies into things like health tech. Combined with the continued success of Android and buzz about things like driverless cars, I think Google’s/Alphabet’s future is pretty solid.