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by jp--1 4922 days ago
This is a simple case of default settings. Not much has changed over the years. He who controls the operating system/browser controls the portal and hence the referral.

As well-known and popular as Google is as a portal, they still need to play the default settings game. Android and Chrome are Google's way of making sure google.tld is a default setting.

One could argue that in the majority of cases, those 1% of domains are not chosen by the user, but by he who controls th default settings.