Google is just one of dozens of companies recently making its stock more affordable. The tech giant's parent company, Alphabet (GOOGL), split its two classes of shares (GOOG) by a 20-to1 ratio in July.

Amazon (AMZN) made the same 20-for-1 move in June while Tesla (TSLA) announced around the same time that it's going with a 3-for-1 stock split. Apple (AAPL) has split its stock five times since the company went public.

Watch this video as CNBC's Emily Lorsch explains what a stock split is and why companies do it.

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