Google is giving its users the ability to view search results found within forum posts and discussion groups, which it claims could be a useful research tool.

Johanna Wright, director of product management at Google, explained in a blog post that results would come from the "most informed" sites, or those with a large number of posts on a particular subject.

"Today, we introduced a new search feature that makes it easier to find forum posts or discussions related to what you're searching for," she said. "This new addition to Google search results applies to sites that tend to have a large number of posts on a specific topic."

Related posts within the same forum or site will be displayed under the main link, along with extra information such as the date of the post. Wright suggested that it could be useful when travelling abroad.

"It's always nice to know what others are saying about the best ways to get around (by boat or train) and how recent those comments are," she said.

Google has also announced a new web site translator gadget that can be applied to a page to offer automatic translation.

"Now, when people visit your page, if their language (as determined by their browser settings) is different than the language of your page, they'll be prompted to automatically translate the page into their own language," said Jeff Chin, product manager at Google, in a blog post.

"If the visitor's language is the same as the language of your page, no translation banner will appear."

The gadget can translate sites into 51 languages, but Chin acknowledged that it is not without its limitations.

"Automatic translation is convenient, and helps people get a quick gist of the page. However, it's not a perfect substitute for the art of professional translation," he said.