YouTube goes after small-business ads with Directr acquisition

YouTube wants more small businesses to purchase advertising on its website, and that’s why this week it acquired Directr, a Boston start-up.

Directr’s technology makes it simple for businesses to create videos, which can be used as YouTube advertisements, but the company charges businesses $250 and $500 per year to use its services.

Those services will soon be free now that Directr has been acquired by YouTube, according to the start-up’s website. Its $0.99 iPhone app is also now available for free.

“Directr is joining the YouTube ads team, where they’ll help us make it easier for advertisers to create and upload awesome videos,” YouTube said in a post announcing the acquisition. The company did not say how much the deal was worth.

YouTube is expected to generate more than a billion dollars from video advertisements for the first time this year, according to eMarketer, a research firm. YouTube could augment its video ads by tapping into small businesses, a niche few online services have figured out, said David Hallerman, video analyst for EMarketer.

Hallerman said YouTube may not necessarily make a lot from each small-business video ad, “but there’s lots of small businesses. The potential is in the volume.”

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