GM is to halt paid advertising on social media website Facebook.

The Detroit News reported that GM executives have concluded the advertising is ineffective, though the Detroit automaker will maintain its social media presence on Facebook, which includes fan pages.

The report said that GM spends US$10m annually on ads on Facebook, and US$30m on its Facebook fan pages.

The cut is being described as part of a regular review of GM’s ad strategy.

GM spokesman Greg Martin told the Detroit News that “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.”

While GM’s annual US$10m in Facebook advertising spend is a tiny fraction of Facebook’s US$3.7bn in annual revenue, the decision comes ahead of the firm’s IPO.