I just performed a quick search on Google, and found the following result:
It seems Google has decided to start placing the number of posts and last update, with other information, alongside forum thread results. (Or, at least for a selection of threads).
This information may be useful to some people, and it may represent a thread's popularity and freshness - leading to more "informed" clicks.
However, I think this meta information just breaks the "flow" and rhythm of the result's page, and is more a distraction than a useful assistant. If they placed this information in line with the title (as they do for blog post times/dates), it would be much nicer.
Here are some articles and pages I found which you may be interested in:
What do you think about these "extra info" lines that Google seems to be throwing everywhere?
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[...] forum, bijvoorbeeld? Tijd om eens te kijken wat de experts erover zeggen. Een zoekactie levert me een paar resultaten op, maar eigenlijk niks interessants. Nouja, het eerste linkje blijkt wel een [...]
I just noticed this feature and googled about it to find a way to comment on it. I frequently do research via google on change-by-the-minute topics that are often discussed on forums and it is INCREDIBLY helpful that this feature is there. To know, for instance, that the last post on a forum was last year instead of this morning saves me a lot of trouble searching through the page for current information.
I am here at a forum newcomer. Until I read and deal with the forum.
Let's learn!