It's likely not about the brand, but about the location. As a result of the Android anti-trust lawsuit in EU, Google has shown a search engine choice screen at

It's likely not about the brand, but about the location. As a result of the Android anti-trust lawsuit in EU, Google has shown a search engine choice screen at initial setup since (I think) 2018. They also unbundled Chrome and Search from the other proprietary apps. See https://www.android.com/choicescreen/ https://www.android.com/choicescreen/