Google restructuring leaves plenty opportunity for humour

Google surprised most users of the search giant when the company announced it would become a subsidiary of a new entity, Alphabet. The online jokes started almost immediately.

Alphabet will replace Google's publicly traded shares later this year, while Google will be trimmed of products unrelated to advertising in a corporate restructuring, CEO Larry Page announced in a blog post.

The new name drew some sarcastic suggestions that the change was to boost Google's search rankings on Google.

The blog post begins "G is for Google," and details the company's plan for the coming year, noting that Page will become Alphabet's first CEO. Twitter users have suggested Sesame Street characters who know their ABCs for other potential executives.

Google has been amassing numerous and varied technology companies over the years, including robot designer Boston Dynamics and smart appliance builder Nest. Ryan Block, AOL's vice-president of product, noted the rationale behind separating those elements from a company primarily known for its search engine. 

Alphabet's web address is abc.xyz, but the URL may be more functional than esthetic. Fortune noted that Google does not own Alphabet.com, which belongs to Alphabet International, a company that does fleet management as part of BMW Group.

Meanwhile, the owner of the @alphabet twitter handle, Chris Andrikanich, seems to have ended his day a little more perplexed than the rest of us. 

Google showed it wasn`t above having a bit of fun, as it hid a link within Page's announcement. Clicking on the period following the phrase "our drone delivery effort," leads to Hooli.xyz, a reference to the HBO TV series Silicon Valley. The characters in the show, a satirical take on Google, run a ramshackle startup called Hooli, and the site suggests that HooliXYZ is its experimental division. 

"Self-driving cars? Flying cars? Self-flying cars? A space elevator? A cure for the AIDS virus? A non-polluting engine that runs on the AIDS virus? Are these things even possible?" the site asks.

Despite the goodwill, including a spike in Google's stock price, the announcement did prompt some to ask whether Google will keep its old motto "Don't be evil."

Luckily Google's search engine will hold onto its name, meaning you will never have to "Alphabet it."