Google received clearance from the Federal Trade Commission Friday for the acquisition of AdMob, the mobile ad display company. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission voted 5-0 in favor of closing the investigation into the deal. Concerns of Google were overshadowed by Apple’s launch of its mobile ad platform, as well as the development of ad networks by third-party companies. The $750 million AdMob deal announced in November 2009 had a multimillion dollar kill clause that Google chief executive officer Eric Schmidt told investors last week the company would never have to use.

All Things Digital is reporting that there will be one less thing in the digital media biz: Rafat Ali's role at PaidContent, the blog he founded at the height of the Internet bust, and which he sold nearly two years ago along with the rest of ContentNext, to U.K.-based The Guardian Group. "Sources said Ali has told co-workers he will leave the company in early July," All Things Digital's Peter Kafka reported this morning, adding that it is not clear what Ali will do next, but that he relocated from Los Angeles to New York recently.

Adweek magazine has gotten an "F" on Madison Avenue. Or maybe it's an "A," depending on your perspective. For the first time in 26 years, the venerable trade magazine will not publish its annual "Agency Report Cards" ranking the best and worst ad shops. "We've gone on hiatus this year," Adweek Editor-in-Chief Mike Chapman tells The Riff, adding, "We'll be back in the first quarter of next year." Chapman says the reason for scrapping 2010 had nothing to do with the performance of the agency business (so you can all consider yourselves as scoring As, as far as …

Earlier this week, Microsoft filed a federal lawsuit against online software company Salesforce.com of alleged patent infringements. On Thursday, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff said that, while he couldn't comment on pending litigation, "The reality is that these patent trolls are unfortunately just part of doing business and technology these days ... They're basically the alley thugs." If it's not clear, the 'they' that Benioff was referring is Microsoft. "Personally, I'm just disappointed to see this from a former leader of our industry." Ouch! Either way, Benioff added, "It's eminently resolvable and it's not material to our day-to-day business ... …

For the fourth year going, Ace Hardware has taken first place in J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Home Improvement Retailer Satisfaction Study, with big-box rival Lowe's coming in second place. The survey, based on merchandise; price; sales and promotions; staff and service; and store facility, ranked Menards, third, followed by Sears, The Home Depot, and True Value. The study reports that 62% of customers say they asked a store employee for help during their last visit to their primary home improvement retailer, up from 51% in 2009. And of those, 98%, "a particularly high proportion," the …

Can you chant via Twitter? We might soon find out as the Dalai Lama on Friday is expected to hold his first chat with Chinese web users using the popular microblogging service. The hour-long chat session is expected to be broadcast on the Twitter account of Chinese writer Wang Lixiong -- a longtime critic of Beijing's policies in Tibet. The Dalai Lama himself reportedly joined Twitter earlier this year. While is Twitter is blocked in China, Chinese users are expected to be able to access the chat with the Dalai Lama, because Twitter allows third-party applications and servers to freely …

A new survey from the National Retail Federation shows that while fewer people intend to buy graduation gifts this year, they plan to spend a little bit more: An average of $89.95, compared to $88.01 last year. Overall, the survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found 31.4% of people plan to buy a grad a gift this year, compared with 32.5% in 2009. Cash will still be the most popular present, chosen by 58.3%, followed by gift cards (31.6%), and apparel (11.4%.)--Sarah Mahoney

Fujifilm is launching a fundraising and photojournalism project to support teen community service organization Kids for Our Troops. Fujifilm's SeeHere.com will provide students with tools to create a fundraising and awareness campaign -- using digital photos, marketing materials and other aids -- for Homes For Our Troops, which provides adaptive homes to wounded veterans. The campaigns will be evaluated by the company, and the most effective campaign creator will win a $5,000 scholarship from Fujifilm. --Aaron Baar

Following up on a report by researchers at AT&T Labs and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, The Wall Street Journal found that Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites continue to "leak" information about users. The sites leak data by providing the user names or IDs of people who click on ads to the marketers. Some companies including Facebook and MySpace reportedly tweaked its code after being contacted by the Journal. When the report first came out last year, Future of Privacy Forum director Jules Polonetsky told MediaPost that the leakage problem wasn't new or limited to social …

Facebook's privacy debacle has some users contemplating quitting, according to security firm Sophos (via Computerworld). The company's recent poll of nearly 1,600 Facebook users showed that 60% are thinking about quitting the site; additionally, 16% say they have already done so.