Television viewers who like to fast-forward through advertising breaks may want to look away now. ITV is developing a new form of unavoidable advertisement that can be embedded in television programmes.

The new technology, which is known as “automatically placed overlay advertising”, uses complex computer algorithms to find clear space, such as blue sky or blank walls, in video footage in which to display logos or messages.

The technology, which was developed for ITV by Keystream, a Californian company, is currently being tested in news footage on the broadcaster’s ITV Local website. If it is well received, and if regulations permit it, ITV hopes to transfer it to the television screen.

Simon Fell, head of future technology at ITV, said: “There’s a lot of potential. If there’s a scene in a programme where there’s time, then it could give us a chance to get an ad away. But obviously on television you won’t be seeing one of these appearing at a crunch point in a drama.

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“It [the technology] looks at moments in the video where it finds segments that are big enough to get a non-moving logo in. Rather than an editor sitting through it and finding space, and all the effort that takes, this does it all automatically.

“We’re trialling it online, where it’s a manageable area and allows us to get feedback from both advertisers and viewers. It gives us another tool in the arsenal, and it’s subtle.”

Advertisers taking part in the trial include USwitch.com, the price comparison website, and Freesat, the digital satellite service. The companies’ logos appear in the background of some videos on the ITV Local website.

The technology could also allow viewers to click on the logo to visit an advertiser’s website, an avenue that advertisers are keen to exploit, given the development of set-top boxes that allow internet access.

Set-top boxes that allow viewers to record programmes and then skim through the advertisements mean that advertisers are finding it increasingly difficult to capture the attention of consumers. In the United States broadcasters have developed a technique known as a “speed bump”, in which advertisers buy the presence of their logo or message during programme breaks, so that viewers who fast-forward still see the branding.

How viewers in this country will react to the technology remains to be seen. Colin Macleod, research director at the World Advertising Research Centre, an independent advisory body, said: “Consumers are becoming a lot more clever in avoiding advertising, and now that they’ve got the technology to do it it’s become a big issue for advertisers. They need to be smarter.

“Anything that they are able to use to attract viewers’ attention they will welcome, but as long as viewers feel comfortable about it. This potentially could cause some friction between broadcaster and consumer.”

ITV may also face opposition from television regulators. Neither Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog, nor the Advertising Standards Authority was able to say yesterday how the new technology would fit within current broadcasting regulations.

Subliminal advertising is banned on British television, as is product placement – references to products that have been acquired at no cost or less than their full cost.

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