BACKGROUND

There are several specifications in the HTML protocol intended to allow web-browser applications to speed up loading and rendering of content in a page of a website. Among them are:DNS prefetch—tells the browser to look up the IP address of a server before the page (or ad) needs it:
<link rel=“dns-prefetch”href=“http://example.com”>Preconnect—tells the browser to look up the IP address of example.com, initiate the TCP handshake, and if the connection is secure, to initiate the SSL connection all prior to the page (or ad) requesting it:
<link rel=“preconnect”href=“http://css-tricks.com”>Prefetch—tells the browser to preemptively fetch and cache the target asset as it is likely to be required for a follow-up navigation:
<link rel=“prefetch”href=“image.png”>Preload—similar to prefetching, except the browser must request the asset:
<link rel=“preload”href=“image.png”>

These specifications may be used by website builders and are typically placed in the HTML header. An example of this may be seen in the browser window100shown inFIG. 1, showing exemplary specifications in a web-page header at102. The reason the specifications are used at the website level is because these specifications only work if you know ahead of time what connections are needed. Generally, a website developer may know the resources any given page will need. In some instances, proper use of these specifications can result in an increase in page-load performance of 20% or more.

Conventionally, these specifications are only beneficial if the implementer knows the connections needed ahead of time, so they are generally not used in the context of digital advertising. Digital ads can change dynamically—at any given moment, an advertiser can traffic new creative content that may result in new connections that eliminate any performance gains from the use of these specifications. In some instances, use of these specifications may actually slow down the page load because the browser is proactively initiating calls and connections that it ultimately will not use.

It is with respect to these considerations and others that the disclosure made herein is presented.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure relates to systems, methods, and software for optimizing rendering performance of a web page containing one or more advertisements. An exemplary method of optimizing rendering performance of web pages containing one or more advertisements includes receiving at an optimization engine creative code related to an advertisement. A web page containing the creative code is virtually rendered by a web page testing service while performance metrics regarding a plurality of connections to servers made by the web page testing service during the rendering are collected. The performance metrics regarding the plurality of connections are analyzed by the optimization engine to identify optimizations to be added to the creative code, and the creative code is modified by the optimization engine by applying the identified optimizations.

In further embodiments, an exemplary system comprises a web page testing service and a processing resource. The processing resource executes an optimization engine configured to receive creative code related to an advertisement for display on a web page. The link to a test page containing the creative code is passed to the web page testing service and the web page testing service virtually renders the test page while collecting performance metrics regarding a plurality of connections to servers made by the web page testing service during the rendering. The performance metrics regarding the plurality of connections are analyzed to identify optimizations to be added to the creative code, and the creative code is modified by applying the identified optimizations.

In further embodiments, an exemplary computer-readable storage medium comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processing resource of an ad optimization system, cause the ad optimization system to receive creative code related to an advertisement for display on a web page from a submitter. A link to a test page containing the creative code is passed to a web page testing service that virtually renders the test page while collecting performance metrics regarding a plurality of connections to servers made during the rendering. The collected performance metrics regarding the plurality of connections are analyzed to identify optimizations to be added to the creative code, and the creative code is modified by applying the identified optimizations. The modified creative code is then returned to the submitter

Various embodiments and implementations described in the present disclosure may include additional systems, methods, features, and advantages, which may not necessarily be expressly disclosed herein but will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within the scope of this application and protected by the accompanying claims.

