The week before July 4th is a notoriously slow news week. This year, however, Google decided to help keep things exciting with a couple of new announcements that were covered on this week's episode of the Marketing Update on HubSpot TV.

Google's Ban of Co.cc Domains

On Thursday evening, Google banned the Co.cc domain , which removed every website using that domain from all Google search results. While Google reserves the right to ban all sites on a certain host if a high percentage of sites hosted on that domain are spammy, it's not something they do very often.

Marketing Lesson: As a marketer, Google's co.cc ban is an example of why it's very important to make sure all your content is hosted on domains that you own. 

Google's Ebook/Video on Zero Moment of Truth

This week, Google also released an ebook and video explaining the zero moment of truth (ZMOT). ZMOT is a theory about consumer buying practices. It builds on the First Moment of Truth (FMOT), as defined by P&G back in 2005. According to P&G, FMOT is the first moment when a consumer interacts with your product on a store shelf. ZMOT takes the idea one step further. It refers to the time between when a consumer first becomes aware of your product and when they buy it. 

Today's consumers begin to build relationships with and make decisions about products before they ever even come in contact with the product. According to Google's report, 70% of Americans say they look at product reviews before making a purchase, and the average shopper references 10.7 sources of information before buying.

Marketing Lesson: Brands need to be practicing inbound marketing to ensure that consumers are have a great zero moment of truth.  

Google's New Social Network Google+

Google also launched its latest and greatest social media attempt this week, the social network Google+. Google+ has much in common with Facebook. Both networks allow you to friend or follow people and share photos, videos, and comments. They each offer the feature of a wall, or stream of information about what your friends are doing. They even look pretty similar. 

However, Google+ is different in how it allows you to manage your friends. It has introduced something called Circles. Each friend can belong to one or more circle, or group of friends. When you share information, you can select which individuals you want to share the content with on a case by case basis. 

Google+ also allows you to "hang out" with friends through group video chat. You can share videos, chat, or talk to each other via video. You still have the ability to only share your hangout session with the circles indicate you'd like to.

Google has also integrated Google+ throughout all of Google's other properties through a menu bar that now appears at the top of your browser window. It keeps you updated on what's happening in Google+, whether you are in your email account or keeping up with your blogs in your reader. 

Marketing Lesson: Google+ is an interesting new development in the social media world . We have yet to see how it will impact search results and inbound marketing, but you can keep updated on how marketers can use Google+ by following HubSpot !

Don't forget to tune into the Marketing Update live next Friday at 4 PM ET!