Google’s YouTube Just Bought Directr, The App Making Ad Videos For Small Businesses Easy

Google has been pushing for better advertising for small business and acquiring Directr is a major step in accomplishing that goal.

YouTube, which Google owns, purchased the app this week for an undisclosed amount, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Directr is a mobile iOS app used by small businesses to make marketing videos. A few "scrappy" film makersstarted the company two years ago and its employees will be joining YouTube's video-ads team, Google told The Wall Street Journal.

It sounds as though little will change for users, at least initially, with the exception of Directr's pricing. Soon, the app will be free to use, according to the mobile app's website.

"The Directr deal is the latest example of Google seeking to add tools for small businesses to encourage them to run more advertising across its sites," wrote Rolfe Winkler and Alistar Barr at The Wall Street Journal. "The company's Google My Business suite of tools is geared toward helping small businesses appear in Google search and Google Maps."

Google also acquired Appentas this spring, a two-person startup focused on the mobile optimization of restaurant websites.

Emu, a mobile messaging service that includes personal-assistant technology for scheduling everything from meetings to movie dates, was also acquired by Google this week.

Similar to Directr, other companies have created mobile apps to help create videos. One example mentioned by The Wall Street Journal is Tastemade.