Follow-up Review of Carbon Ads / BuySellAds: From Reschedule to Silence, Why I’m Lowering the Priority

In the previous two posts, I documented two milestones in the monetization process of my technical blog.

The first post was:

Technical Blog Ad Platform Selection and Registration: Wanwei Ads + Carbon Ads Application Record and Follow-up Plan

技术博客广告平台选择与注册实战：万维广告 + Carbon Ads 申请记录与后续计划

The second post was:

Carbon Ads / BuySellAds Communication Review: A Complete Record from Application to Meeting Issue

🚀 Carbon Ads / BuySellAds 对接全过程复盘（从申请到会议异常的完整记录）

In the first post, I explained why I started testing ad platforms as part of my blog monetization plan.

My basic judgment at that time was that, as my blog content and traffic continued to grow, the site had reached a stage where ad monetization was worth testing. For Chinese traffic, I could try Wanwei Ads. For English technical content, Carbon Ads / BuySellAds looked like a more relevant option because it focuses more on developer-oriented audiences.

In the second post, I recorded the full process from applying to Carbon Ads, receiving an email from the BuySellAds team, scheduling a Zoom meeting, and then failing to complete the meeting on the scheduled day.

At that point, my interpretation was still relatively positive.

I did not see it as a completely failed meeting. Instead, I treated it as an early-stage communication issue after entering the business discussion process with an international ad platform.

However, what happened afterward made me feel that another follow-up review was necessary.

1. This Was Not a Cold Email, but a Follow-up After My Publisher Application

First, this point needs to be clarified.

I did not randomly send a cold email to BuySellAds or Carbon Ads and then expect a reply.

The actual process was:

I first submitted a publisher application on the Carbon Ads website.

When submitting the application, I filled in the website URL, technical content direction, monthly page views, audience positioning, and other related information. My blog mainly covers WordPress, Laravel, Go, Docker, servers, CDN, SEO, ad monetization, and developer tools. Overall, it is a technical blog.

Only after submitting the application did the process move into email communication and meeting scheduling.

In other words, this was not a generic cold outreach attempt. It was:

I submitted a publisher application, and the other side entered an initial communication process with me.

From that perspective, I think it is reasonable to expect a clear response from the other side.

Even if the site is not a good fit, or even if they do not want to move forward at this stage, a simple reply would still be appropriate.

2. The First Meeting Issue Was Still Understandable at the Time

The first Zoom meeting did not go smoothly.

The situation was a bit complicated. It was not simply a matter of who was right or wrong, but the result of several factors coming together:

The email may not have been seen in time;

The meeting time may not have been properly synced to the other side’s calendar;

I joined the Zoom meeting at the scheduled time and waited for more than twenty minutes;

The other side later explained that the meeting had not been saved on her calendar, and that she had been in back-to-back meetings that day.

From the follow-up email, she did apologize and also suggested rescheduling for the following week.

At that moment, I still felt this was understandable.

In business communication, calendar sync issues, missed emails, and meeting conflicts can happen.

As long as the meeting could be rescheduled afterward, it would not be a serious problem.

That is why, in my previous review, I still did not treat the incident as a complete failure.

3. What Really Disappointed Me Was the Lack of Follow-up After the Reschedule Request

The follow-up email flow was roughly as follows.

At 4:22 AM on July 3, Lara replied and explained why the first meeting had not taken place.

In her email, she mentioned that:

She had missed the previous email;

She had been in back-to-back meetings;

The meeting had not been saved on her calendar;

She hoped to reschedule for the following week;

She would not be working the next day.

The key sentence in the original email was:

Can we reschedule for next week?

This sentence is important.

It showed that, at that moment, the other side was not ending the conversation directly. Instead, she was actively suggesting another meeting.

In other words, at least at that point, the process had not ended.

Then, at 8:26 AM on July 3, I replied to her email.

My reply basically expressed the following points:

No worries, and thank you for getting back to me;

Next week worked well for me;

My schedule was flexible, so she could suggest a time that suited her schedule;

I would adjust accordingly;

I looked forward to speaking with her.

This email was a very normal reschedule confirmation.

My meaning was clear:

She suggested rescheduling for the following week, and I accepted;

She could decide the specific time;

I could adjust to her schedule.

Under normal circumstances, the next step would be for the other side to reply with a new meeting time, or at least explain the next arrangement.

But over the next few days, I did not receive a new meeting time.

So at 7:49 PM on July 8, I sent another follow-up email.

In that email, I again expressed several points:

I was still interested in learning more about BuySellAds publisher opportunities;

I had joined the previously scheduled Zoom meeting, but it seemed that we had missed each other;

I would still be happy to reschedule at a time that worked best for her;

Before the call, I would also appreciate learning more about the publisher requirements, traffic criteria, and how the revenue model typically works.

This email was no longer just a polite message. It was a more specific business follow-up.

It confirmed that I was still interested, and it also listed the questions I genuinely cared about before joining another call.

These questions were also reasonable.

As a publisher, I naturally need to understand:

What requirements the website needs to meet;

What the approximate traffic criteria are;

Whether there are any audience structure requirements;

How ad revenue is calculated;

How Carbon Ads / BuySellAds evaluates a technical blog.

However, after that email was sent, I still did not receive a clear response.

So what really disappointed me was not the first failed Zoom meeting.

The first meeting issue could be understood as a calendar synchronization problem.

The real issue was:

The other side had already suggested rescheduling;

I replied on the same day and said I was willing to adjust to her schedule;

After several days without a new meeting time, I sent another more specific follow-up email;

But there was still no clear response afterward.

This likely means that this opportunity is no longer a priority on their side.

4. Even If the Site Is Not a Fit, a Basic Reply Would Still Be Reasonable

What bothered me was not that the cooperation did not succeed.

Ad platforms selecting publishers is always a two-way matching process.

The other side may consider many factors:

Whether the traffic structure of the site is a fit;

Whether the site has enough English-speaking developer traffic;

Whether their advertisers cover my content categories;

Whether the site’s audience has enough commercial value;

Whether they currently need to add more publishers to their ad inventory;

Whether the site is too Chinese-language-heavy to be suitable for international advertisers.

I can understand all of these considerations.

Although my website has years of technical content and a certain amount of traffic, Chinese traffic is still the major part of the site today, and the English content is still in a growth stage. For Carbon Ads, which is more focused on international developer audiences, my site may simply not be a top-priority publisher right now.

That is not the problem.

The real problem is:

If the site is not a fit, or if they do not want to move forward for now, it would be completely fine to send a short reply.

For example:

Thanks for following up. We are still reviewing your site.

Or:

Your site is interesting, but it may not be a fit for us at this stage.

Or even:

Let’s reconnect when your international developer traffic grows further.

I could accept any of those replies.

But going from suggesting a reschedule, to not providing a new meeting time, and then not replying to the follow-up email, is not a great communication experience.

5. How This Experience Changed My Current View of Ad Platforms

After this experience, my view of Carbon Ads / BuySellAds has changed slightly.

My previous plan was:

Chinese site traffic: test Wanwei Ads;

English site traffic: test Carbon Ads;

AdSense: keep it as a basic fallback ad network;

Affiliate marketing: use it as a supplementary monetization method.

This overall direction still makes sense.

However, I will now move Carbon Ads / BuySellAds from “near-term priority” to “long-term channel to observe.”

The reason is simple:

At the moment, this platform has not shown a clear willingness to move my site forward in the process.

Since the other side has not provided a new meeting time and has not replied to my follow-up email, I do not need to spend too much additional energy on it.

For an individual technical blogger, energy is very limited.

Instead of repeatedly chasing an ad platform that has not provided a clear response, it is better to focus on things that are more controllable:

Continue building English content;

Continue improving search traffic;

Continue testing affiliate marketing;

Continue improving the WordPress technical service entry points;

Continue looking for real client opportunities.

These things are slower, but at least I have more control over them.

6. This Also Reminded Me That Ad Platforms Are Not the Only Answer to Monetization

When trying to monetize an independent blog, it is easy to fall into one misconception:

As long as I join a better ad platform, the revenue will immediately improve.

But after actually going through the process, I have realized that an ad platform is more of a result than a foundation.

What truly determines revenue is still:

Whether the content continuously generates search traffic;

Whether the audience is vertical enough;

Whether visitors have commercial value;

Whether advertisers can understand the website;

Whether the English content can reach international developers;

Whether the site itself is credible enough;

Whether the site can keep generating real business opportunities.

If these foundations are not fully built, even joining a better ad platform may not immediately improve revenue.

On the other hand, if these foundations gradually become stronger, then ad platforms, affiliate marketing, technical services, and sponsorship opportunities may all become more realistic.

So although the interrupted communication with Carbon Ads / BuySellAds was frustrating, it also made one thing clearer to me:

For an independent technical blog, the most important thing is not to chase a specific platform, but to keep increasing the commercial value of the site itself.

7. How I Plan to Handle This Next

I do not plan to keep following up on this frequently for now.

My approach will be simple:

Keep the email records;

Do not spend additional preparation time on it;

If they reply later, continue the conversation normally;

If there is no reply for a long time, archive it as an unfinished ad platform application case.

I will not deny the value of Carbon Ads / BuySellAds as a platform just because of this experience.

It may still be a suitable ad network for technical content websites.

But at least at this stage, it is not where I should spend most of my energy.

For me, the more important work now is to keep improving the blog content, English site, SEO, affiliate marketing, and technical service entry points.

Those are more stable and more controllable long-term assets.

8. Conclusion

Looking back at the whole process, I would update my judgment as follows:

The original Carbon Ads application was still valuable;

The first meeting issue was understandable;

The other side suggested rescheduling, which meant the opportunity had not ended immediately;

I replied on the same day and said I was willing to adjust to her schedule;

After not receiving a specific meeting time for several days, I sent another follow-up email;

But there was still no clear response afterward;

Therefore, I will temporarily move BuySellAds / Carbon Ads down to a long-term channel to observe, rather than treating it as a near-term priority.

This experience was not a complete failure.

At the very least, it allowed me to go through a real international ad platform publisher application process, including meeting scheduling, email communication, unexpected issues, and follow-up handling.

But it also reminded me of something important:

A monetization opportunity should not be judged only by the platform’s brand name. The actual follow-up efficiency, communication quality, and fit between both sides matter just as much.

For an individual technical blog, the things that truly deserve long-term investment are still content, traffic, trust, and sustainable service capability.

Ad platforms can wait.

But the blog’s own growth cannot.

系列导航