How about a checkbox on the advanced search, to only display one result per thread, if there are multiple hits within its replies?
And maybe a little red (4) number next to it, showing how many hits in that thread?
I dunno, call it a thread search?
The number of hits within a given thread, SHOULD show you how on target that discussion is, with what you are looking for as well, and could weigh in on the order of the results.
Right now, I just found it a PITA when I searched for help here, and the first two pages of results, were ALL from the same thread.
(and not what I was looking for)
What do you think?
Good idea?
