Irish people are among the highest users of internet ad blocking software anywhere in the world.
That is according to a new analysis by Irish online ad software and analytics firm Pagefair, which found a significant 39% of desktop users here now use ad blocking tools.
However, despite the high level of usage among PC users here, mobile ad blocking software usage levels are negligible.
The data is bad news for advertisers and publishers, who are increasingly dependent on revenue from their online operations.
"The continued growth of the blocked web is a serious challenge to the digital media industry, but it is also a singular opportunity to start over, avoid the mistakes of the past, and serve ads that don't annoy users," said PageFair's CEO Sean Blanchfield.
The only other country where the use of the online ad stopping software is higher than Ireland is Indonesia, where the combined mobile and desktop penetration rate is 58%.
Also at 39%, Greece is the only other country with the same level of use of ad block software as Ireland.
The Pagefair data shows a sharp spike in growth in the use of ad blocking software here in the middle of 2016, with the level of usage more than doubling to almost 1.5 million.
It is not clear why the jump took place, although industry sources suggest it could be due to growing awareness of the availability of the software, and changes in how local publishers deliver their online ads.
The report estimates that 615 million devices around the globe are now blocking ads, a year on year increase of 30%.
Mobile ad block usage grew by 108 million, reaching a total of 380 million active devices, the PageFair 2017 Global Adblock report said.
Curiously, the report finds that even though fewer people are using desktops and laptops, the usage levels of ad blocking on these platforms has increased by 17%.
Ad blocking software is no longer the preserve of young males, the study found, with men and women of all ages now using it.
When asked why they use it, worries about viruses and malware were among the top concerns, Pagefair found.
Privacy is also no longer as important an issue for those using ad blocking software as it was when the previous report was completed.
