If anybody else wonders why a 0-ohm resistor is a thing, apparently it is because it makes it possible to install a jumper on printed circuit boards with the same equipment that is used for normal resistors.
You can have multiple resistor footprints and depending on where the 0 ohm is placed, different configurations are enabled.
You can use it to be able to isolate parts of the circuit after the fact, although solder jumpers are more common for that purpose
I suppose it's because the mechanical function is more salient: it is a standard SMD part like other resistors, capacitors, LEDs, etc, not a conductor etched on the PCB.