Acquisition would help Yahoo increase video advertising capabilities, as well as complement its search and display ad offerings Yahoo has acquired Maven Networks for $160 million in a deal that will help the search provider boost its video advertising capabilities.Media companies including Fox News, CBS Sports, and Sony BMG use Maven’s platform to manage, distribute, and earn advertising revenue from their online video content. The platform includes an advertising insertion engine, as well as inventory management and reporting tools. Companies use it to post videos on their sites and insert interactive ads into the videos.On Tuesday, Yahoo said it plans to contribute its display advertising sales force and technologies to Maven’s platform to help publishers display more targeted ads in videos. The deal means that advertisers can buy video, search, and display ads through Yahoo, which believes that video is a fast-growing segment of the online ad market. Maven has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo, which has established a Cambridge, Mass., office with the acquisition.Yahoo makes the acquisition in the midst of an increasingly hostile attempt by Microsoft to buy the search company. In response to Yahoo’s rebuttal of its buyout offer, Microsoft on Monday said that it thinks its offer was fair and that it might take the offer directly to Yahoo shareholders. Software DevelopmentTechnology IndustrySmall and Medium Business