Microsoft has experimentally introduced “SearchTogether,” which allows people to use a browser plug-in (IE7 only) to literally collaborate on search. You need a Windows Live ID and Messenger, but you can apparently use any search engine you like.

Here’s a tutorial and some screens.

I haven’t used it so I can’t report on the experience. Conceptually, however, I could imagine that in many use cases (e.g., Travel and Local Search) this could be highly valuable as an option. Microsoft Messenger has had collaboration capabilities around local search and Live Maps for some time, but they’re little used.

Indeed, collaboration is widely available in various online applications; however, it has yet to come to search. The key to mainstreaming this or gaining decent consumer adoption is bundling the option into the browser and not having several “hoops” for users to jump through.

This is very early and will undoubtedly evolve.

Related Topics: Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Internet Explorer | Search 4.0

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling