Google+ is currently testing with a small number of people, but it is possible to get an invitation from Google+ once it's ready.

If Google is making the investment in developing this, I tend to trust that it will be a fairly sound and useful social media platform. It looks fun, too!

Business and organization marketers might be interested in the potential application of this technology for SEO and SMO but like any social media platform, the context of sharing should make sense. Social media is a personal experience for many. The marketing messages placed on a particular social media platform should depend on the way the audience opts in to the message stream to ensure a good audience experience.

For those who want to know more, Social Media guru Chris Brogan has been offering a lot of interesting insights about the new platform.

But advertisements are attention-grabbers by nature. Traditional Web advertising methods using banner ads, pop-up ads and paid ad listings can disrupt your carefully crafted design. Who wants Flash animation or looping text to divert attention from your own message?

In a recent issue of Web site Services magazine, Tiffany Guarnaccia writes that pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be integrated to carefully match your site’s style while bringing in extra revenue.

Some of the options are:

• in-line contextual PPC ads embedded within the text, much like hyperlinks
• advertising placed on the invoice page of a recent purchase from your e-commerce or storefront site
• PPC directory ads that fit in with your directory or database site

Ms. Guarnaccia said some of the PPC providers promote themselves as well as the advertiser (such as Ads by Google) and you may not want that much of an outside presence on your site. A few of the providers offering a more low-key pay-per-click partnership are 7Search, MIVA and Searchfeed.com.

Online advertising can be an excellent source of income for your company while maintaining your sites design integrity.

Happy clicking!