Toyota is one of those companies that always seems to be producing good news: from sleek new models to growing market share to increased fuel efficiency to the stories you keep hearing from satisfied vehicle owners. Given this generally positive aura surrounding the brand, how does Toyota fare in the public eye as measured by the way people search for the Japanese auto-maker online? What topics, models, problems, or buying opportunities are people most commonly entering into search engines in conjunction with Toyota?

Recent research by Epiar Inc. took a look into these questions, exploring the top several thousand phrases entered into search engines which include the word “Toyota.” Curious to see which ideas and associations jumped to the top of the list, the following topics were uncovered as the most popular:

Please click here for an expanded report on the top Toyota search phrases.

Taking a Closer Look

Of interest to the Toyota executives and bean-counters, the sporty Supra was among the most popularly searched individual models, followed closely by the Tacoma, Camry, Corolla, Prius, Celica, and Tundra. The truck department at Toyota should be proud of their rise in brand power as compared to the ever-popular Toyota sport utility vehicles, sedans, and compact cars.

One interesting feature of the Toyota search phrases surrounded the manner in which people searched for Toyotas by model year. Searches for 2007, 2006, and 2005 vehicles were predictably the highest, followed by a surprisingly even number of searches for models dating from 2004 through the 1980s and beyond. Clearly, people are still concerned about buying or repairing their older Toyotas!

In relation to older models, searches for repairs, parts, service, and other phrases implying car-trouble also appeared within popular search. It would be interesting to compare the top several thousand repair-related search phrases of Toyota with those of Ford, Honda, GM, and others. Are Toyota’s repair phrases proportionally higher or lower than those of their competitors? Which parts & problems show up the most prominently in each manufacturer’s search phrases? How is Toyota’s reputation of mechanical reliability reflected in the volume of search requests for car service and repair manuals versus the other major auto brands? All interesting questions to save for another day…

Speaking of reliability – with this cold Edmonton winter weekend and somewhere to be tonight, I sure am glad my trusty Corolla is working just fine!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

Everybody wants a new guitar to kickstart their dreams of becoming a rock star – but what kind of guitars are people dreaming of?

Recent research by Epiar explored the demand for rock music’s favourite instrument by sorting frequency with which phrases including the word “guitar” are entered into search engines. Several charts emerged which show the top guitar brands, types, tabs, pointers, and accessories – lists that should make any aspiring Jimi Hendrix, Chet Atkins, Django Reinhardt, or Randy Rhodes salivate!

For a complete listing of the top 6000 search phrases that include the word “guitar”, click here.

Power Brands

Guitar enthusiasts love to dream about the next guitar to add to their collection, apparently turning to online search as a part of the fun. Should it be a mellow solid-body Gibson electric? Or perhaps a 12-string jumbo acoustic for that bluegrass project? How about a vintage Fender Stratocaster, internet search’s most popular model? Or a Hamer bass for subbing in while your bassist is gone on summer vacation?

When looking through the top 52,591,755 estimated annual searches for guitars, the following popular brands and manufacturers emerged at the top of the heap:

So Many Riffs, So Little Time

Without surprise, extensive searches for resource material relating to playing guitar were also found. Not only are people going online to dream about their next guitar purchase, they are also using search engines to find songs, tabs, chords, lessons, and scales. Highlight phrases from the complete guitar resources research report include the following top 10 search phrases:

• Guitar tabs (searched 7,538 times per day)
• Free guitar tabs (1,337)
• Guitar lessons (731)
• Free guitar lessons (440)
• Free guitar tablature (338)
• Christian guitar tabs (318)
• Guitar scales (311)
• Guitar chord charts (308)
• Guitar music (302)
• Free guitar music (300)

Take it to the Coda…

All this talk of guitars makes me want to play a few songs and solos right now! Good thing my whammy bar’s in and those amplifier tubes are nearly warmed and ready to go…

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

While search frequency research on macroscopic topics such as Canada or plastics can be surprising and impressive, search research provides an equally curious experience when examining the most narrowly focused of topics.

Personally, I rarely spend time thinking about my car’s engine valves. In fact, I typically don’t think about any of the mechanical parts my car unless I really need to; unless there’s something wrong.

After encountering several search phrases about engine valves during a recent Oil & Gas sector project, I sought to explore the following questions: “What kind of car trouble might people be inadvertently reporting to search engines by looking for specific auto repair information? Do any trends appear within these searches, perhaps relating to specific brands or models of cars? If so, what does that mean?”

In the spirit of microscopics, I decided to take closer look at searches relating to EGR and PCV valves (really little car parts that can cause big headaches), as well as valve searches according to the major automakers. The following brands appeared the most frequently in these internet searches:

Click here for a full version of this auto valve report.

Search’s Impact on Consumer Behaviour

As a consumer recently introduced to the existence of this public record of implied car trouble with specific car parts, how might this type of knowledge affect your future purchase patterns? Suppose you were looking for a used Ford Explorer or Ranger – wouldn’t you have some new questions for your mechanic? Or perhaps if you were considering a 1996-1999 vehicle – might there be certain models you’d avoid?

Imagine if you had search data for the remaining 1000 car parts!

In fairness, additional factors need to be considered before jumping to conclusions with this type of information (such as differences in sales volume, possible recreational search by valve enthusiasts, etc.), but the principle is still interesting. In fact, search trends have matched the real-life car experiences of friends and family in several cases.

You can bet I’ll be doing some serious search query research before my next major purchase!

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.

Ever walked through an electronics store and wondered which types of televisions are in the highest demand? Internet-based TV searches have a lot to say about the matter.

A recent study by Epiar set out to explore the nature of demand for TVs, expressed through Internet searches made on popular search engines. Despite the proliferation of new TV technologies, varying sizes, and new manufacturers, the results obtained show noticeable trends of the hottest markets and which companies are generating the largest share of interested customers.

Consult the full version of this TV market research report for more information.

Taking a Closer Look

Digging into this information a little deeper, plasma, LCD, and projection TVs showed up as the most popular technologies. A full breakdown of demand for televisions by type can be found in this TV technologies report.

Similarly, the following research report indicates the demand for televisions according to the size of screens, with 50 inch and 27 inch TVs in the highest demand.

Streaming TV Demand: Korean Manufacturers #1

In a study of the leading international electronics brands, Korean television manufacturers Samsung and LG appeared as the top-2 most highly searched TV makers. The prominence of these and other Asian-made TVs over American or European brands becomes clear when looking at the following list:

A fuller version of this chart, detailing the specific phrases that people are searching in connection with these brands, can be found in this full TV brand report.

Epiar Inc. is an Edmonton-based internet market research and search engine optimization company. Please contact us for more information or to commission your own research reports.