Google
is now Alphabet: Search giant changes name to avoid becoming a 'conventional
company'
Google is to change its name to
Alphabet, alongside a major restructuring.
The company will continue to operate as Google in most of the
important ways, including the search engine that made it one of the world's
biggest companies. But it will operate a holding company named 'Alphabet',
announced after stock markets closed.
Alphabet will include not just Google but the company's huge
array of other operations. That includes it's life sciences operations, for
instance, which is working on a special smart contact lens.
Splitting the company up and rearranging it under a new name will
allow each of those different businesses to be run by different bosses, the
company said. It will also allow it to report each of those businesses' results
separately.
The company also said that its reorganisation would help it
concentrate on its more speculative, experimental work.
"Alphabet will also include our X lab, which incubates new
efforts like Wing, our drone delivery effort," the company wrote in its
announcement. "We are also stoked about growing our investment arms,
Ventures and Capital, as part of this new structure."
Larry Page wrote in a blog post
that the company has "long believed that over time companies tend to get
comfortable doing the same thing, just making incremental changes.
"But in the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas
drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay
relevant."
Why Google changed its name to Alphabet
Sundar
Pichai will be able to lead, and Larry Page will be able to dream.
Google’s startling announcement Monday that it will change its
name to Alphabet initially seemed more plot turn from the HBO comedy series
“Silicon Valley” than real life. Having finally convinced us that a company
with a silly name can be worth more than $400-billion, Hooli up and decides it
wants an equally meaningless moniker.
Alphabet,
which includes Google itself in its stable of businesses, will be run by the
co-founders plus executive chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt.
