A module filter.
Prioritize critical images
Marks the largest above-the-fold image fetchpriority=high so the browser loads it first.
Filter
prioritize_critical_images
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Filter docs
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Read the full guide
Both frames render identically — that's the goal. The win is in the bytes and requests
below, not the look. They're served live by the mod_pagespeed module on
demo-httpd-1.1.modpagespeed.com; the optimized frame
applies only this filter. Right after a cache purge it may briefly match the original while
the worker rewrites it — reload to see the result.
This filter is beacon-driven: mod_pagespeed
instruments the page, a real browser reports back, then it serves the optimized form and
re-measures every few minutes — so the optimized frame can take a reload, or briefly
revert to the original, before it reflects the change.
mod_pagespeed applies this only after a real browser loads the page and reports back (and re-measures periodically), so there's no server-side diff to capture here — the frames above show it live.
Run this on your own site
This is one of 49 filters the mod_pagespeed module applies in place — self-hosted on Apache, nginx, and IIS. Install and run it: it optimizes right away and adds the optimized response headers shown above. Open source under the Apache License 2.0 — free in development and in production.