Speaking to MediaGuardian, ITV's chief executive Adam Crozier said the broadcaster "was not punching its weight online".
"ITV.com lags behind competitors in audience, functionality and revenue terms," he said. "We need to invest online – our site isn't as good as some of our competitors. We need to start to find a way to develop pay online and launch micropayments."
He added that ITV.com needs to be overhauled before the launch of Project Canvas, due next year, because ITV's own website "will become much more of a destination" from that point.
It is understood that ITV plans to launch a mix of paid for and free content on Project Canvas.
Yesterday Virgin Media filed a complaint against Project Canvas with Ofcom.