A method and apparatus of a device that returns a plurality of ranked query results for a query is described. In this embodiment, the device receives the query from a client. In addition, the device determines a plurality of query results matching the query. Furthermore, the device scores each of the plurality of query results using an order-based quadratic proximity function. The device additionally ranks the plurality of query results using the plurality of scores to determine the plurality of ranked query results. The device further sends the plurality of ranked query results to the client.