You’re looking to buy a piece of the world’s most famous search engine, but then you see it. Your brokerage app shows two different options. One is GOOGL. The other is GOOG.
Wait. Which one is "real"?
Honestly, it’s a question that trips up even seasoned investors the first time they dive into Big Tech. If you are searching for what is the stock ticker symbol for google, the answer is actually both, but they serve slightly different purposes. Since 2015, Google has technically operated under a parent company called Alphabet Inc., though most of us still just call it "Google stock."
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Basically, the "L" at the end of GOOGL is the only thing standing between you and a vote at the annual shareholder meeting.
The Tale of Two Tickers: GOOG vs. GOOGL
Let’s get the dry definitions out of the way so we can talk about what actually matters for your wallet.
GOOGL represents Class A shares. These are the "traditional" shares. If you own one share of GOOGL, you get one vote. You can show up (virtually or in person) to the shareholder meetings and cast your ballot on things like board of director elections or environmental proposals.
GOOG represents Class C shares. These have zero voting rights. None. Zilch. If you buy GOOG, you are an owner of the company’s success, but you’re a silent partner. You don't get a say in how the company is run.
So why does this even exist? It’s all about control.
Back in 2014, Larry Page and Sergey Brin—the guys who started the whole thing in a garage—wanted to make sure they could keep running the company their way. They didn't want a "Wall Street" type coming in and forcing them to change just to chase short-term profits. By creating a class of stock that doesn't vote (GOOG), the company can issue stock to employees or use it to buy other companies without Diluting the founders' power.
Is One "Better" Than the Other?
You might think that a share with a vote is naturally worth more than a share without one. In theory, you're right. Historically, GOOGL (the voting one) has often traded at a tiny premium—maybe a few cents or a dollar more than GOOG.
But here’s the kicker: For the average person buying 10, 50, or even 500 shares, your vote doesn't actually matter.
There is a secret third class called Class B shares. These aren't traded on the open market. They are held almost exclusively by the founders and insiders, and each of those shares counts for 10 votes. Because Page and Brin hold so many Class B shares, they effectively control over 50% of the voting power anyway.
Even if every single GOOGL shareholder voted "No" on something, the founders could still push it through.
- Price: They usually move in lockstep. If Alphabet has a great earnings report, both tickers go up.
- Dividends: Alphabet started paying a dividend in 2024. Both GOOG and GOOGL receive the same amount per share.
- Liquidity: Both are incredibly easy to buy and sell. You won't get "stuck" with either one.
The Weird History of the 2014 Split
If you look at a historical chart, you’ll see a massive "drop" in the price around April 2014. That wasn't a market crash. It was the birth of the GOOG ticker.
Before that date, the stock ticker symbol for google was just GOOG. When the split happened, everyone who owned one share of the old "GOOG" suddenly owned one share of the new GOOGL and one share of the new GOOG. It was a 2-for-1 split that effectively doubled the number of shares while cutting the price of each in half.
The goal was simple: protect the founders' "visionary" control. It was controversial at the time. Some big investment funds weren't happy about getting non-voting shares. But since Google was (and is) such a powerhouse, most people just shrugged and kept buying.
Does the Name "Alphabet" Matter?
In 2015, Google rebranded the whole corporate structure to Alphabet. Larry Page famously wrote that "Google is not a conventional company." They wanted to separate the core business (Search, YouTube, Android) from the "Moonshots" (Waymo self-driving cars, Verily life sciences, and Wing delivery drones).
When you search for the stock ticker symbol for google, you are technically buying Alphabet. If Search hits a home run, your stock goes up. If Waymo finally becomes a trillion-dollar business, your stock goes up. You are betting on the whole "alphabet" of companies, not just the search bar.
A Quick Cheat Sheet for Buyers
If you’re sitting there with your brokerage app open right now, here is the "honest truth" guide to choosing:
- Check the price. Sometimes GOOG is trading for $160.05 and GOOGL is $160.40. If you don't care about voting, just buy the cheaper one.
- Are you an options trader? Sometimes the "open interest" (the number of people trading) is slightly higher on one than the other. Usually, GOOGL has a bit more volume, but it's a toss-up.
- Do you want to feel important? If you like getting the emails about shareholder meetings and actually clicking the buttons to vote "Yes" or "No" on company proposals, buy GOOGL. It costs nothing extra to have that right.
What about the 2022 Stock Split?
You might remember hearing about Google stock being thousands of dollars. It was! In mid-2022, Alphabet did a 20-for-1 split.
If you owned one share worth $2,000 on a Friday, you woke up on Monday with 20 shares worth $100 each. This didn't change the value of your investment, but it made it a lot easier for regular people to buy a full share without needing "fractional share" features on their apps. It also helped the stock get included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average potentially, though that's a whole different rabbit hole.
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Actionable Next Steps
If you are ready to invest, don't overthink it. Both tickers represent the same company.
Check your specific brokerage for any "oddities." Some smaller platforms or international banks might only offer one of the two. If you have the choice, look at the "Ask" price for both. If GOOGL is cheaper or the same price as GOOG, grab GOOGL—you might as well have the voting right even if you never use it.
If you're using an automated investment service or a robo-advisor, they might already have picked one for you. Don't sweat it. The performance of these two stocks is so tightly correlated that the difference is usually measured in pennies over the course of a year.
Ready to start? Open your trading platform, type in "Alphabet," and you'll see both. Pick the one that fits your price target for the day, and you're officially a part-owner of the world's information.