A routine General Motors' (GM) review of `how' and `where' the automaker spends its marketing dollars has, according to the information shared by GM spokesman Tom Henderson, prompted the bigwig auto company to decided against advertising on Facebook social network.

With the routine review apparently revealing that GM's $10 million annual spending on Facebook advertising was having hardly any impact on consumers, the automaker - which incidentally is the third-ranking advertiser in the US
- had decided to discontinue its Facebook ads.

However, GM also revealed that it will continue to have the free-to-create Facebook pages, and for which the company has to pay no fees, for marketing its vehicles.

The company said in a 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."

The GM decision to remove its ads from Facebook comes at a time when the social network is set to hold its first public stock offering, which is likely to result in an over $100 billion valuation of the company.

Moreover, since GM is one of the biggest marketers in the US, its decision to stop Facebook advertising also marks the first most-noticeable crack in the social network's strategy; and underscores evident apprehensions about whether advertising on Facebook has a better consumer impact than conventional media.