Ads on Facebook not for everyone

NEW YORK – Responding to extraordinary demand, Facebook said Wednesday that it would sell more stock in the company’s initial public offering. But ahead of the IPO, a debate emerged between two of the nation’s largest automakers: Does it pay to advertise on the social network?

General Motors, the nation’s largest automaker, said it would abandon Facebook ads after concluding they were ineffective. At the same time, Ford reaffirmed its commitment to Facebook, saying their relationship was stronger than ever.

The direct financial impact of GM’s move is minimal for Facebook, but the decision drew attention to the network’s advertising system, which some observers regard as immature.

In a regulatory filing Wednesday, Facebook said it would add 84 million shares, worth up to $3.2 billion, to the IPO, which is shaping up to be the decade’s hottest. The company’s stock is expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol “FB” on Friday.

Almost half of the additional shares come from investment firms DST Global and Tiger Global. Goldman Sachs is doubling the number of shares it is selling. Facebook board members Peter Thiel and James Breyer are also selling more shares.

Since all of the additional shares come from insiders and early investors, the company won’t benefit from their sale.

“It certainly does raise the question: How much higher could the stock go if institutions who know the company well think this is a good price to sell?” said Daniel Ernst, an analyst with Hudson Square Research.

On the other hand, he said, investment firms only make money by selling their stakes, and they have bills to pay. So the fact that they are selling more is only a limited indication of their confidence in the company.

The news comes a day after Facebook raised the expected price of the stock to a range of $34 to $38 per share, up from its previous range of $28 to $35.

At the high end of the price range, the IPO would raise $16 billion, without the overallotment option reserved to meet extra demand. That would make it the third-largest IPO in American history, ahead of General Motors in 2010, according to Renaissance Capital.

The IPO would value Facebook at more than $100 billion. The stock is expected to get a final price this evening.

In papers filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook said current shareholders are now offering approximately 241 million shares, up from about 157 million shares previously.

Even though founder Mark Zuckerberg is not increasing the number of shares he is selling, the additional sales will trim his voting control to 55.8 percent from 57.3 percent. That’s because he has voting control over some of the shares owned by investment firms.

The market expects a substantial IPO “pop,” or first-day price jump, said Josef Schuster, founder of IPO investment and tracking firm IPOX Schuster. But the overall stock market has been down in the last two weeks, and investor interest could flag quickly, he said.

“It may be rough waters for Facebook in the next few days, given that pricing has been up and up in a market that’s been down and down,” he said.

Facebook has more than 900 million users who log in at least once a month, but it makes only a few dollars per year from each one, chiefly through advertising. Advertisers have been complaining that it’s difficult to make good use of Facebook.

A person briefed on GM’s advertising said the company will stop running paid advertising on Facebook by midsummer because advertising agencies and third-party companies that reviewed the ads determined the company wasn’t getting much back for its $10 million annual investment.

Ford Motor Co. is taking the opposite tack of GM. It’s set to increase spending on Facebook advertising this year, said Scott Monty, Ford’s global head of social media. Ford sees the site as a way to build long-term relationships with customers, not just as an online billboard.