Handling digital advertisements in a communication network

A proxy server of a communication network, the proxy server comprising:

• hardware processing circuitry;
• and
• memory coupled with the hardware processing circuitry, said memory comprising ad-handling logic that when executed by said hardware processing circuitry causes said hardware processing circuitry to operate to:
• receive, from a user equipment device of the communication network, a request to download a web page from one of a web site or a web portal of the communication network;
• in response to reception of the request, obtain web page code corresponding to said web page;
• in response to obtaining the web page code, identify an executable script of an ad script of an advertisement in the web page code corresponding to said web page;
• insert, directly in the executable script of said ad script of the web page code, replacement functions that overwrite original built-in functions of the ad script, the replacement functions removing at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the original built-in functions of the ad script that would result in download of an object of the objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement;
• and
• insert, at the end of executable script of said ad script, restoration functions that restore the original built-in functions of the ad script comprising said at least one URL after occurrence of a specific event within the web page code;
• and
• communicate the modified web page code to the user equipment device to enable the user equipment device to delay download of objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement during download of the content of the web page.

A user equipment that communicates with a proxy server of a communication network, wherein said user equipment comprises:

• hardware processing circuitry;
• and
• memory, said memory comprising ad-handling logic that when executed by said hardware processing circuitry causes said hardware processing circuitry to operate to:
• transmit a request to download a web page from one of a web site or a web portal of the communication network to the proxy server;
• responsive to the transmission of the request, receive a modified web code of the requested web page from the proxy server that comprises replacement functions that overwrite original built-in functions of the ad script, the replacement functions removing at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the original built-in functions of the ad script that would result in download of an object of the objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement, and that comprises restoration functions that restore the original built-in functions of the ad script comprising said at least one URL after occurrence of a specific event within the web page code;
• and
• executing the advertisement-delaying script-based executable patch to delay the download of said objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement.

A proxy server of a communication network, wherein said proxy server comprises:

• a hardware processor;
• and
• memory that comprises executable instructions that when executed by the hardware processor causes the hardware processor to operate to:
• receive, from a user equipment device of the communication network, a request to download a web page from one of a web site or a web portal of the communication network;
• in response to reception of the request, obtain web page code corresponding to said web page;
• in response to obtaining the web page code, identify an executable script of an ad script of an advertisement in the web page code corresponding to said web page;
• insert, directly in the executable script of said ad script of the web page code, replacement functions that overwrite original built-in functions of the ad script, the replacement functions removing at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the original built-in functions of the ad script that would result in download of an object of the objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement;
• and
• insert, at the end of executable script of said ad script, restoration functions that restore the original built-in functions of the ad script comprising said at least one URL after occurrence of a specific event within the web page code;
• and
• transmit the modified web page code to the user equipment device to enable the user equipment device to delay download of objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement during download of the content of the web page.

An apparatus that operates as a proxy server in a communication network, wherein said apparatus comprises:

• a hardware processor:
• and
• memory that comprises executable instructions that when executed by the hardware processor cause the hardware processor to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, from a user equipment device of the communication network, a request to download a web page from one of a web site or a web portal of the communication network;
• responsive to receiving the request, obtaining web page code corresponding to said web page;
• responsive to obtaining the web page code, identifying an executable script of an ad script of an advertisement in the web page code corresponding to said web page;
• inserting, directly in the executable script of said ad script of the web page code, replacement functions that overwrite original built-in functions of the ad script, the replacement functions removing at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the original built-in functions of the ad script that would result in download of an object of the objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement;
• and
• inserting, at the end of executable script of said ad script, restoration functions that restore the original built-in functions of the ad script comprising said at least one URL after occurrence of a specific event within the web page code;
• and
• transmitting the modified web page code to the user equipment device to enable the user equipment device to delay download of objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement during download of the content of the web page.

A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing:

• program code which, when executed by a computer operating as a proxy server of a communication network, causes the computer to receive, from a user equipment device operating in the communication network, a request to download a web page from one of a web site or a web portal of the communication network;
• program code which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to obtain web page code corresponding to said web page;
• program code which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to identify an executable script of an ad script of an advertisement in the web page code corresponding to said web page;
• and
• program code which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to insert, directly in the executable script of said ad script of the web page code, replacement functions that overwrite original built-in functions of the ad script, the replacement functions removing at least one Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of the original built-in functions of the ad script that would result in download of an object of the objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement;
• and
• program code which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to insert, at the end of executable script of said ad script, restoration functions that restore the original built-in functions of the ad script comprising said at least one URL after occurrence of a specific event within the web page code;
• and
• program code which, when executed by the computer, causes the computer to transmit the modified web page code to the user equipment device to enable the user equipment device to delay download of objects referenced in the ad script of said advertisement during download of the content of the web page.