• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 7, 2011

Today, Google+ profiles are limited to individuals, not businesses. A Google video on YouTube provides some quick thoughts on Google+ for businesses, asking brands to "hold off" on using personal profiles for the task.

Meanwhile, Google will create profiles for a small group of brands and business to test how Google+ members interact with them through Circles, Streams and Hangouts. The engine will shut down those not authorized to participate. Brands can apply to participate in the test phase through an online submission form.

Aside from services and pages, what does Google+ offer brands -- and will the social site have a variety of services for advertisers? Google doesn't offer advertising in Google+, but plans to launch a series of services for businesses to engage users, a Google spokesperson wrote in an email to MediaPost.

"Google+ is intended to make the entire Google experience better by including you, your relationships and your interests," he wrote. "By enhancing the Google experience, we believe users will search more, share more, and spend more time on Google sites, which in turn will improve our existing monetization."

Wednesday night, Google again allowed members to invite others to join. The goal is to double the user base in the field trial, though Google isn't ready to give the details on how many members that means.

For those lucky to have an invite into Google's circles, there's a published list of solutions to problems already cropping up in the "Known Issues" area.