Looking at what Google users are searching for over the past 10 years or so, the search term “body shop” has been on the increase since November 2008. The Internet search engine offers insight on what its users search for and the popularity of those searches through a service called Google Trends.

The intelligent search report not only covers the original “body shop” search term, but also includes related search terms such as “car body shop,” “paint body shop” and even “auto body repair.”

Texas and California are, not surprisingly, where most of the searches originate, however Ohio makes a strong showing as does Maryland and North Carolina.

The trend of these searches peaked in June of 2011, hitting an index high of 100, which it did again in June of 2012. The forecast (dotted line) is that consumers searching for a “body shop” will be nearly as numerous this summer with an index of 99 in June 2013.

Changing the search analysis to “Gerber Collision” shows the marked increase in those searches as the company grows its business in the U.S.

Try it out for yourself at Google Trends

by CollisionWeek: www.collisionweek.com/cw/news/2013/0325-goog.asp