Google is testing a new display and user interface for forum content within its search results. “We’re testing a new display for forum content when it appears in search results, allowing people to quickly view top comments and related discussions to help them find useful information and dig deeper,” a Google spokesperson told us.
What is this new display. The new display will highlight the “top comments” on a specific discussion forum thread and then also highlight related discussions on that topic.
Google told us that searchers often want to learn from others’ experiences with a topic, and because of that, Google is trying new ways to highlight those experiences in Google Search. This is in addition to the “Discussions and Forums” feature and the Forums filter, previously named perspectives.
Google has shown “top answers” for years, a decade actually, but this new UI shows more to the searcher. Google told us also that in some cases, Google has agreements from a forum to show these additional details. I assume this is about the Reddit partnership. But Google added that it surfaces content from hundreds of forums and other communities across the web.
What it looks like. Here is a mock up of the interface that a Google representative sent me, showing the “top comments” section” and also the “related content” section – you can click to enlarge the image: