Yahoo!'s $160M online video bust

Yahoo! is winding down portions of its online video portal Maven Networks, which it bought in 2008 for around $160 million making Maven's exit the second-largest to date in the online video space. TechCrunch reported that Maven would soon cease product updates and would see mass layoffs, but Yahoo! responded with a statement saying it planned to continue to leverage Maven's technology across its consumer and advertising video assets and would not lay off large numbers of Maven's staff.

Yahoo! said the decision to cease supporting the Maven hosted video customer base eventually stemmed from a desire to focus more on consumer-oriented online video efforts. Needless to say, the defocusing of Maven at Yahoo! opens up opportunities for other online video platforms to pick up some sizable customers and makes the Maven acquisition valuation look downright foolish. 

For more:
- see the updated TechCrunch post here 

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