...of posts in an indexed forum thread, number of author posting and the date of the last post. We already know that Google has been testing its results on search results for a long time and this is just a step in that direction. The new enhancement shows that Google is trying to identify technologies powering the forums. Moreover, the ability to index and serve data on these forums will also serve as a form of algorithmic ranking.

Here's an overview of the three distinctive features:

1. Posts: This info is important since the content provided in these posts informs about the conversation or original question or conversation. Users can also select whether to click or not, based on the posts in the conversation on the target page.
2. Authors: It informs the diversity in conversation and sources of conversation. Generally, more authors means more information, debate or argument on a topic, which can be quite helpful during research. It also reveal that the topic is thought provoking and leads to group conversation or group problem solving.
3. Last post: Most users generally go for post that are recent since it adds a freshness factor to the results. It is used by users to pre-qualify information before clicking on the result. Even from the prospective of Google Algorithm, a fresh content is always useful. It informs users how Google is using these metrics for search rankings.

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