Why does Google Docs operational transformation err on the side of deletion?

Tried out this experiment today: opened two offline editors for a Google document. In one, I bolded the first word. In the second, I deleted it. Regardless of which client I turn on first, the word always ends up deleted.

First off, why is this the case - my understanding of operational transformation is that ordering matters? In the simple example of two people typing "a" and "b" respectively, if the server receives "a" first, it will enforce the output of "ab" by transforming the second person's "b" event into a "pass one space, then add b" event, and vice versa.

Secondly, if ordering doesn't matter, are there technical reasons as to why Google Docs has chosen to err on the side of deletion? Or are the reasons largely simplicity for users?