Google's new parent company Alphabet is slowly making some changes, one of which is a new code of conduct posted for its employees Friday after the transition into a holding company was complete. What's most noticeable about this new code of conduct is not what it says but what it doesn't say.

Google's famous "Don't be evil" creed is now missing from Alphabet's new code of conduct, as well as some of the other quirkier parts of the company's policies. Instead, it generally states that employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries should "do the right thing — follow the law, act honorably, and treat each other with respect."

Google included "Don't be evil" as part of its initial public offering filing in 2004. As The Wall Street Journal's Digits blog points out, it helped Google show that it was a different kind of company, even if some critics didn't always believe it lived up to its motto.

However, "Don't be evil" is still a part of Google's code of conduct, and it shows up a few times throughout the text. Google's much longer and more detailed code of conduct than Alphabet's still covers topics such as alcohol consumption at work, freedom of expression and the company's dog policy (no cats allowed, basically).

"Individual Alphabet companies may of course have their own codes to ensure they continue to promote compliance and great values," a Google spokesman told WSJ's Digits blog.

That means it's possible that individual companies under the Alphabet umbrella can form their own unique cultures separate from the one Google has famously built up over the years. But since most of Alphabet's employees still work at Google, it seems likely that many will continue to follow that "Don't be evil" mantra.

Via: The Verge