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When querying an API that may or may not have an image, what are the main differences in setting the background-image or actually creating an img tag? 

<div class="img" style="background-image:url(...)"></div>

vs

<div class="img"><img src="..." alt="#" /></div>
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    By what criteria do you wish to evaluate "better"? E.g. consistent appearance across browsers, ease of maintenance, ease of styling to achieve a certain appearance, etc. Commented Nov 25, 2013 at 23:34

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The second makes the background selectable, which can harm design. And it can harm the positioning, too. Imho there is not always the first to use. And from external css.

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A broken image tag may show if the image doesn't exist. It will also fire an 'error' event. See http://css-tricks.com/snippets/jquery/better-broken-image-handling/

A broken background-image would fail a little more 'silently.'

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A background image is a presentational detail.

A foreground image is content.

If the image changes the readers' understanding of the document then it should be an <img>. If it is only decorative it should be applied with CSS.

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