Symantec owned & used the Norton name when the products were dogs so who else is to blame? They made it so are tarred & feathered in the public eye.
"Free" is not as clear cut as you make out. The version of Avira tested wasn't the free one, although I think it uses the same engine & definitions. BitDefender for Linux is free for personal use so how would you classify that?
Equally "you get what you pay for" is a questionable default policy.