Should I Build It Should I Build It
03 Jun 2025
Design Tools

A web comic app like webtoon targeting the Philippine market

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.

Your are here

You're entering a 'Swamp' category with your web comic app idea for the Philippine market, meaning there are existing solutions, but none have really taken off. With 12 similar products, competition is notable. The average comment count on similar products is low (3 comments), suggesting low engagement overall. While we don't have explicit 'use' or 'buy' signals for similar products, the low engagement score suggests user interest is not particularly high. To succeed, you'll need to understand why existing web comic apps haven't dominated the Philippine market and offer something significantly different or cater to an underserved niche within that market.

Recommendations

  1. Before investing heavily, deeply research why existing web comic platforms haven't fully captured the Philippine market. Is it a content problem (lack of relevant stories), a platform problem (poor user experience), a marketing problem (inadequate promotion), or a combination of factors? Talk to potential users in the Philippines to understand their current reading habits and preferences.
  2. Given the challenges in the broader market, consider focusing on a very specific niche within the Philippine web comic scene. For instance, you could target a specific genre (e.g., romance, horror, historical fiction), a particular age group (e.g., teens, young adults), or a specific region within the Philippines. This targeted approach can help you build a loyal audience and differentiate yourself.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established platforms, explore opportunities to build tools or services that support existing web comic creators in the Philippines. This could include tools for creating, translating, or promoting their comics. For instance, users of similar products complained about character consistency and the amount of time spent editing the output, so focusing on these pain points could be fruitful. Partnering with established creators could give you valuable insights and a built-in user base.
  4. Filipino culture is unique. It would be prudent to invest in unique artwork for your application or website. If you use AI for this, expect that you will need a human to proof read and correct any issues, and it's very likely that your users will want character consistency.
  5. Given the concerns about AI-generated content and copyright, make sure that your comic artists fully understand and are compliant with the existing Philippine regulations, and that they retain their rights. You might also want to consider working with lawyers to clarify these issues. Ensure that your content is legal.
  6. Since you are targeting the Philippine market specifically, remember that English might not be the primary language. Make sure that your website is easily translated to local dialects. For example, the user of a similar product pointed out that scrolling from right to left is unnatural for English-speaking users. Be aware of the reading style and language of your users.
  7. While building your audience, focus on community building and engagement. Run contests, host Q&A sessions with creators, and actively solicit feedback from your users. This will help create a loyal community around your platform.
  8. Thoroughly test your platform with your target audience early on. Pay close attention to user experience, especially on mobile devices, as many Filipinos access the internet primarily through their phones. Iterate quickly based on user feedback.
  9. Given the competition in the web comic space, it might be prudent to examine whether there is an adjacent opportunity that is more promising. Content generation tools might be a better way to approach this market than being yet another content platform.

Questions

  1. What are the specific cultural nuances and preferences within the Philippine market that existing web comic platforms are missing? How can you tailor your content and platform to better resonate with Filipino readers?
  2. What unique monetization strategies can you employ in the Philippine market, considering the local economic conditions and user preferences for payment methods (e.g., micro-transactions, mobile payments)?
  3. How can you leverage the existing Filipino creator community and cultural trends to generate original and compelling content for your platform, ensuring that creators are fairly compensated and their rights are protected?

Your are here

You're entering a 'Swamp' category with your web comic app idea for the Philippine market, meaning there are existing solutions, but none have really taken off. With 12 similar products, competition is notable. The average comment count on similar products is low (3 comments), suggesting low engagement overall. While we don't have explicit 'use' or 'buy' signals for similar products, the low engagement score suggests user interest is not particularly high. To succeed, you'll need to understand why existing web comic apps haven't dominated the Philippine market and offer something significantly different or cater to an underserved niche within that market.

Recommendations

  1. Before investing heavily, deeply research why existing web comic platforms haven't fully captured the Philippine market. Is it a content problem (lack of relevant stories), a platform problem (poor user experience), a marketing problem (inadequate promotion), or a combination of factors? Talk to potential users in the Philippines to understand their current reading habits and preferences.
  2. Given the challenges in the broader market, consider focusing on a very specific niche within the Philippine web comic scene. For instance, you could target a specific genre (e.g., romance, horror, historical fiction), a particular age group (e.g., teens, young adults), or a specific region within the Philippines. This targeted approach can help you build a loyal audience and differentiate yourself.
  3. Instead of directly competing with established platforms, explore opportunities to build tools or services that support existing web comic creators in the Philippines. This could include tools for creating, translating, or promoting their comics. For instance, users of similar products complained about character consistency and the amount of time spent editing the output, so focusing on these pain points could be fruitful. Partnering with established creators could give you valuable insights and a built-in user base.
  4. Filipino culture is unique. It would be prudent to invest in unique artwork for your application or website. If you use AI for this, expect that you will need a human to proof read and correct any issues, and it's very likely that your users will want character consistency.
  5. Given the concerns about AI-generated content and copyright, make sure that your comic artists fully understand and are compliant with the existing Philippine regulations, and that they retain their rights. You might also want to consider working with lawyers to clarify these issues. Ensure that your content is legal.
  6. Since you are targeting the Philippine market specifically, remember that English might not be the primary language. Make sure that your website is easily translated to local dialects. For example, the user of a similar product pointed out that scrolling from right to left is unnatural for English-speaking users. Be aware of the reading style and language of your users.
  7. While building your audience, focus on community building and engagement. Run contests, host Q&A sessions with creators, and actively solicit feedback from your users. This will help create a loyal community around your platform.
  8. Thoroughly test your platform with your target audience early on. Pay close attention to user experience, especially on mobile devices, as many Filipinos access the internet primarily through their phones. Iterate quickly based on user feedback.
  9. Given the competition in the web comic space, it might be prudent to examine whether there is an adjacent opportunity that is more promising. Content generation tools might be a better way to approach this market than being yet another content platform.

Questions

  1. What are the specific cultural nuances and preferences within the Philippine market that existing web comic platforms are missing? How can you tailor your content and platform to better resonate with Filipino readers?
  2. What unique monetization strategies can you employ in the Philippine market, considering the local economic conditions and user preferences for payment methods (e.g., micro-transactions, mobile payments)?
  3. How can you leverage the existing Filipino creator community and cultural trends to generate original and compelling content for your platform, ensuring that creators are fairly compensated and their rights are protected?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 12
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 10.5%
    • Positive use signal: 10.5%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

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