Why Google is restructuring, why the name Alphabet and how it affects you

Much more than a renaming, the reshuffle at the US search group suggest there's more going on than meets the eye

If you haven't heard of Alphabet, don't worry: neither had most people in the world until 5pm EST (10pm BST) on Monday, when Google announced a restructuring. When it's all done, the search company will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc, a new holding company headed up by Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt, formerly the bosses of Google.

It may seem like a simple name change, but the reality is more complicated. Later this year, Google will create Alphabet as a wholly owned subsidiary of itself. Alphabet will then create its own wholly owned subsidiary, which will merge "with and into" Google, leaving Google - through the magic of corporate finance - a direct, wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Confused? You're not alone.