We're comparing apples to oranges here. There are 7.4 million companies in the US, and most of those are local businesses. Law firms, car repair shops, restaurants, etc.
You're talking about the exceptions -- global billion dollar brands. These aren't that.
Yeah, but for a lot (perhaps most?) businesses, their offerings are somewhat nebulous and their logos can't rely on well-tread iconography. How do you represent legal services in a logo? How about high-end Asian Fusion food? Medical certification services?
Legal services: with a scales
Asian fusion: fruit segment & chopsticks
Medical certification: equal-armed cross overlapping a document
This took me about 20 seconds, and I don't work in design. They all seem very obvious to me. I actually think most small businesses are pretty focused compared to tech startups.
high-end Asian Fusion food? You're being way too specific in your requirements for a logo, if you need the logo to unambiguously describe the company to that degree.
You're talking about the exceptions -- global billion dollar brands. These aren't that.