China

—Peer39's semantic ad net bites the dust: Peer39 has decided to close its "Semantic Ad Network" and laid off its four-person sales staff as it hopes to focus more on the technology side of its business.

The mystery of why deputy managing editor Adi Ignatius is leaving Time is solved: He's the new editor in chief of Harvard Business Review. The Boston-based title has been without a top editor since last summer, when Tom Stewart quietly resigned.

Cambridge, England-based technology VC deals tracker Library House, which went in to administration last month after the venture sector itself dried up, is selling its database to Dow Jones's VentureSource, a larger, similar service. Administrator Leonard Curtis made the sale on December 23, DJ said on Tuesday.

Around the Net In Online Marketing: China Cracks Down on "Vulgar" Sites

-The futureheads in the electronics business say 3-D is going to be the next big thing in television. Just imagine watching Kath & Kim in three dimensions. Mind-blowing. [WSJ]

-For people who work in book publishing, Town Cars, off-sites and lunch at the Four Seasons are out; Metrocards, webcam conferences and pizza are in. [NYT]

—Hulu's 2009 resolutions : Hulu's plans for 2009 don't include fundraising or downloads, CEO Jason Kilar told Mediapost. Instead, the NBCU-News Corp (NYSE: NWS) JV will focus on developing better video search and ad targeting technology, personalization features like recommendation apps, and global expansion. Why skip downloads?

-Barring a Madison Avenue miracle in 2009, ad spending is due for its first three-year decline since the Great Depression. The good news: It'll be a lot easier to find the table of contents, right? [Ad Age]

-Having gauged our national attention span and found it wanting, the broadcast networks are no longer keeping full-time correspondents in Iraq. [NYT]

The tracking of Santa’s gift giving trip across the globe began at 6 am today as Christmas morning hit the Pacific Rim and Santa has already dropped off presents to all of the good boys & girls in Japan, Australia, Korea and parts of Russia and China.
Norad (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is showcasing [...]

—Departing Time exec's online/offline disappointment: Ed McCarrick, who leaves Time magazine after 35 years this week to go to Omnicom barter unit Icon International, tells AdAge's Nat Ives that one of his biggest disappointments was not being able to change advertisers' habits about selling beyond the paid subscription.

A rare large media deal, this time in the Chinese market: Sina (NSDQ: SINA), one of the big online portal companies in China, has acquired the out-of-home ad assets to local company Focus Media (NSDQ: FMCN), in stock.