GM pulls Facebook advertising

General Motors, the world’s largest car maker, has pulled its advertising on Facebook, the world’s largest social media site.

MSN Cars on Facebook

The $10m deal saw GM pay for advertising across the social network: it now plans to concentrate on its Facebook Page – which is free.

While it is a small proportion of GM’s $1.1m ad budget, it’s still a blow to Facebook. The social network plans to float on the stock market in coming days, with analysts valuing it at $100bn.

GM was the third largest advertiser in the US last year so any moves it makes are seen as significant.

A GM source told Reuters the decision was because the Facebook ads had little impact on consumers’ car buying decisions.

“It’s not unusual for us to move our spending around various media outlets – especially with the growth of multiple social and digital media outlets,” said a GM statement.

“In terms of Facebook specifically, while we currently do not plan to continue with advertising, we remain committed to an aggressive content strategy through all of our products and brands, as it continues to be a very effective tool for engaging with our customers.”

GM reportedly spends around $40m a year on its Facebook presence: a quarter of this was spent on the ads.