Yahoo winding down Maven Networks
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.
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
