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Yahoo winding down Maven Networks

About a year and a half after spending $160 million to acquire the video-serving technology start-up, Yahoo has decided to pull the plug on the service.

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
Tom Krazit

Yahoo has decided to shut down a video start-up it acquired last year for $160 million, as part of a wider strategy to pare down its empire.

Maven Networks was brought into Yahoo in February 2008 to help improve the quality of Yahoo's own video technology, as well as build video-serving technology for external companies. But TechCrunch reported Monday that Yahoo is shutting down the project, a move Yahoo has since confirmed.

Yahoo has been in the midst of a house-cleaning effort, to a certain extent, as it attempts to take stock of its famously disparate assets and determine where it should be spending time and money. Several Yahoo products and services that have passed their prime, such as GeoCities and Yahoo Briefcase, have also gotten the boot in recent months.