211 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
211 lines
6.7 KiB
Markdown
# Placeholder Image Niche — Deep Dive Research
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**Date:** 2026-01-02
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**Type:** Keyword Research + Community Analysis
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**Budget Used:** ~$0.15 (4 DataForSEO queries)
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---
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## Executive Summary
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The placeholder image niche represents a **significantly larger opportunity** than initially estimated. Total addressable search volume exceeds **30,000+ monthly searches** across variations, with multiple zero-difficulty keywords available.
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**Key Finding:** No AI-generated placeholder services exist. All competitors (placehold.co, picsum.photos, etc.) return random stock photos. Banatie's Live URLs feature can capture this entire market.
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---
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## Keyword Clusters
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### Tier 1: High Volume, Low Difficulty (Priority Targets)
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| Keyword | Volume | KD | Intent | Notes |
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|---------|--------|----|----|-------|
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| placeholder image | 14,800 | 18 | Transactional | Base term |
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| image placeholder | 14,800 | 17 | Transactional | Synonym |
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| photo placeholder image | 14,800 | 24 | Transactional | Synonym cluster |
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| image placeholder dark | 4,400 | 2 | Transactional | **+50% YoY growth** |
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| app placeholder image | 1,900 | 2 | Transactional | **+123% YoY growth** |
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| placeholder image dark | 1,300 | 6 | Transactional | Dark mode variant |
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### Tier 2: Developer-Specific Keywords
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| Keyword | Volume | KD | Intent | Notes |
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|---------|--------|----|----|-------|
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| placeholder image css | 720 | 12-13 | Informational | Code examples |
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| placeholder image url | 390 | 21 | Navigational | **+85% YoY, direct product match** |
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| placeholder image html | 320 | 26-33 | Informational | Code examples |
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| dummy image | 720 | 27 | Transactional | Alternative term |
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| dummy photo image | 720 | 5 | Transactional | **Very low KD** |
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### Tier 3: Use-Case Specific
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**Profile/Avatar (~2K combined):**
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| Keyword | Volume | KD |
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|---------|--------|----|
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| placeholder profile image | 720 | 21 |
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| profile image placeholder | 720 | 21 |
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| profile placeholder image | 720 | 0 |
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| person placeholder image | 320 | 14-19 |
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**Loading States (~1K combined):**
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| Keyword | Volume | KD |
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|---------|--------|----|
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| image loading placeholder | 210 | 24 |
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| loading image placeholder | 170 | 0 |
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| image placeholder gif | 480 | 8 |
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**Size-Specific (~1K combined):**
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| Keyword | Volume | KD |
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|---------|--------|----|
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| 200x200 placeholder image | 390 | 33 |
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| 150x150 placeholder image | 210 | 13 |
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| placeholder image 600 x 400 | 260 | 0 |
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### Tier 4: Mobile/Framework (Growing)
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| Keyword | Volume | KD | Trend |
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|---------|--------|----|----|
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| ios placeholder image | 590 | 0 | **+126% YoY** |
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| flutter image placeholder | 480 | 21 | Stable |
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| android image placeholder | 170 | 2 | Stable |
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---
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## Zero-Difficulty Opportunities
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These keywords have KD 0-5 and should be targeted first:
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1. **profile placeholder image** — 720 vol, KD 0
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2. **ios placeholder image** — 590 vol, KD 0, +126% growth
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3. **loading image placeholder** — 170 vol, KD 0
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4. **placeholder image 600 x 400** — 260 vol, KD 0
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5. **book cover placeholder image** — 170 vol, KD 0
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6. **image placeholder dark** — 4,400 vol, KD 2
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7. **app placeholder image** — 1,900 vol, KD 2
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8. **android image placeholder** — 170 vol, KD 2
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9. **dummy photo image** — 720 vol, KD 5
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10. **vertical image placeholder** — 320 vol, KD 5
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---
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## Community Pain Points (Reddit)
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### Direct Validation of Banatie Use Case
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From r/ClaudeAI "Claude code mcp to generate images?":
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> "right now my instructions are to just do placeholder image in various sizes. These images are usually then replaced with stock photos etc. I am wondering if there is an mcp that can create or fetch these images for Claude instead."
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**This is EXACTLY our target user.**
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### Existing Pain Points
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1. **Service Reliability:**
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- "placeholder.com is no more!" — services shut down
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- "Placekitten has been flakey" — reliability issues
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- "via.placeholder.com API still works, but is really slow"
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2. **Pricing Frustration:**
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- "$0.04/image seems high" (re: DALL-E API)
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- Multiple threads asking for "cheapest image generation API"
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- Cloudflare mentioned as budget option
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3. **Fragmented MCP Solutions:**
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- Together AI Image Server
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- Flux Image MCP Server
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- OpenAI imagegen-mcp
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- mcp-hfspace (HuggingFace)
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- No unified, simple solution
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4. **Category/Relevance Issues:**
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- People want **relevant** images, not random photos
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- "Picsum but with categories" projects getting traction
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- AI-powered placeholder provider got positive reception
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---
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## Competitive Landscape
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### Current Placeholder Services
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| Service | Type | Weakness |
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|---------|------|----------|
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| placehold.co | Gray boxes with text | No real images |
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| picsum.photos | Random stock photos | Not relevant to context |
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| placekitten.com | Cat photos | Unreliable, shutting down |
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| via.placeholder.com | Gray boxes | Slow, basic |
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| static.photos | Categorized stock | Still random within category |
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### Gap in Market
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**ZERO services offer:**
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- AI-generated placeholders
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- Context-aware images
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- MCP/workflow integration
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- Prompt-based customization
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---
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## Strategic Recommendations
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### 1. Documentation SEO (Immediate)
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Create dedicated doc sections for:
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- `/docs/placeholders/` — Main landing for placeholder keywords
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- `/docs/placeholders/dark-mode` — Target 4,400 vol keyword
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- `/docs/placeholders/profiles` — Avatar/profile use case
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- `/docs/placeholders/sizes` — Size-specific examples
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### 2. Landing Page Opportunities
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Consider dedicated pages:
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- `/placeholder-images` — Target 14,800 vol cluster
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- `/ai-placeholder-generator` — Target "generator" keywords
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### 3. Content Angles
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**Tutorial ideas:**
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- "How to Generate Dark Mode Placeholder Images with AI"
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- "AI Placeholders for iOS/Flutter/React Native Apps"
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- "Replace Stock Photo Placeholders with AI-Generated Images"
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### 4. Live URLs Feature Positioning
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Live URLs should be positioned as:
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- "AI Placeholder Images" — for the placeholder niche
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- Works like placehold.co but generates real images
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- Prompt in URL = instant relevant placeholder
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---
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## Total Addressable Market
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| Cluster | Monthly Searches |
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|---------|-----------------|
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| Core placeholder terms | ~15,000 |
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| Dark mode variants | ~5,700 |
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| Profile/avatar | ~2,500 |
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| Developer (CSS/HTML/URL) | ~1,500 |
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| Size-specific | ~1,000 |
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| Loading states | ~1,000 |
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| Mobile/framework | ~1,200 |
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| Dummy image variants | ~2,000 |
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| Generator/creator | ~1,000 |
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| **TOTAL** | **~31,000** |
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---
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## Next Steps
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1. **@strategist:** Review for content prioritization
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2. **Docs team:** Create placeholder section structure
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3. **Product:** Ensure Live URLs supports common sizes (200x200, 600x400, etc.)
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4. **Marketing:** Position Live URLs as "AI Placeholder Service"
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---
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## Sources
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- DataForSEO keyword suggestions (4 queries)
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- Reddit: r/webdev, r/ClaudeAI, r/mcp, r/nextjs
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- Brave Search community analysis
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