Google Did Not Just Turn Into Alphabet

In the past half-day since Google announced Alphabet, there's been just as much confusion as there has been understanding. What Google didn't do was turn themselves into a different company. What Google DID do was to create an umbrella company that's able to better handle all the strange or otherwise non-Googley projects they've found themselves creating over the past few years. Google isn't done, and you're not going to be "Alphabetting" anything when you need to search the internet.

While we've got an Alphabet: everything you need to know guide already posted, it became apparent over the past few hours that we needed something else, too. Here's everything that Alphabet isn't. This is a list of every little thing Alphabet won't be doing.

Alphabet will not be taking over YouTube, Google Maps, Google Now, or Android. Google still proceeds over YouTube, and YouTube will still be run the same way it was before this Alphabet announcement was made.

Alphabet will not be taking over any of Google's internet-centric companies at all. If a company was under Google before and fits Google's mission statement, it'll stay under Google.

Alphabet is not a consumer brand.Alphabet is not a replacing Google.

This is the most important point being missed by anyone discussing the domain name of the website the company has chosen, the fact that Alphabet is a longer name than Google, or that the brand Alphabet is owned by BMW in Germany. It doesn't matter.

Google created Alphabet as a holding entity. The name "Alphabet" is not going to appear on your next smartphone.

"We are not intending for this to be a big consumer brand with related products–the whole point is that Alphabet companies should have independence and develop their own brands." – Larry Page, Google Co-Founder, Alphabet CEO

To that end, don't expect Google to be making any more announcements about immortality research. That's for Calico (now outside of Google, inside Alphabet) to talk about.