Over the last decade, the shift toward mobile consumption and platform-driven media has changed how people discover and engage with news. Media organizations are up against independent creators and AI-powered feeds, forcing them to work harder to capture audiences who crave authenticity and control. Amid that change, one thing remains constant: audiences still trust professional journalism when it’s delivered seamlessly and securely [1].
Every audience journey is unique, but the challenges for media organizations are universal — attracting attention, building trust, and converting engagement into value. The Arc XP & Poool integration connects each stage of that journey, creating a smooth path from first visit to loyal subscriber. It’s engagement that feels personal and protection that’s built in.
[1] Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025 by the Reuters Institute for the Study of JournalismA Smarter Path to Paywall Flexibility and Protection
Today’s media organizations need the freedom to experiment with revenue and paywall models — to open access when it drives reach, and to enforce protection when it drives value.
That balance is exactly what this integration delivers. By connecting Arc XP Subscriptions and Poool, teams can create personalized paywalls and offer experiences while relying on Arc’s Edge Content Protection to keep premium content secure. It’s flexibility on the front end, backed by control on the back end.
For developers, the integration is designed to get you moving fast. It ships as a feature pack with starter code and engine-compatible blocks that render Poool widgets and workflows within the Arc XP Subscriptions product. Teams can stand up real experiences quickly, test variations, and refine what works without heavy coding.
The Arc of the Journey: Engage, Protect, Orchestrate, Optimize
From attracting new audiences to retaining loyal subscribers, every step of the journey can now flow seamlessly between Arc XP and Poool, helping media organizations strengthen and scale their audience-revenue models with confidence.
🎯 Engage: Build Flexible Audience Journeys
Poool gives media organizations the freedom to shape engagement around their audiences — from simple metered walls to complex, rule-based journeys. Through Poool’s SDK, Journey Builder, and A/B testing tools, teams can launch and refine experiences without custom development.
With the integration, Poool’s engagement logic works seamlessly with Arc XP Subscriptions, so every prompt, wall, or offer follows the correct access rules — creating an audience journey that feels flexible, seamless, and native to Arc XP.
🔒 Protect: Enforce Server-Side Control
Arc XP’s Edge Content Protection keeps premium content secure at the CDN level, so media organizations can experiment with Poool walls and offers knowing access is always enforced. They maintain full control while giving their audience dynamic, interactive experiences that feel seamless across the site.
For developers, that means fewer moving parts. Enforcement happens automatically at the server, keeping paywall logic clean and reliable — no extra scripts or complex client-side safeguards needed.
🚦 Orchestrate: Identity Meets Access
As audience members move from anonymous to registered to subscriber, Arc XP and Poool stay perfectly in sync. The integration connects Poool’s access rules and metering logic with Arc XP’s Identity and Entitlements services, ensuring audiences always see the right experience for their status.
This orchestration is designed to bring clarity to access control — connecting registration prompts, subscription offers, and entitlements across systems. It lays the foundation for a unified flow where user states stay aligned, reducing manual syncs and complexity for developers down the line.
📈 Optimize: Build, Measure, Improve
Optimization doesn’t have to mean overhauling your strategy — it starts with small, measurable tests. With Poool’s A/B testing tools, teams can experiment with dynamic wall design, messaging, or entire audience journeys in just a few clicks. Start small — testing a scenario for a specific audience segment, page type, or slice of traffic — then expand as results come in.
All of this happens through a no-code interface in Poool, so teams can launch and monitor experiments instantly. Developers don’t need to lift a finger unless they want to extend functionality for deeper customization. Looking ahead, this testing foundation sets the stage for more dynamic, personalized experiences across Arc XP — where engagement data and content preferences inform not just paywall logic, but how stories, recommendations, and offers are presented in real time.
▶️ Ready to see it in action? Watch the demo:
Getting Started
The Arc XP & Poool integration is available as a feature pack designed to help teams launch fast, test confidently, and build with less code.
Here’s how to get started:
👉 1. Enable your Poool account
You’ll need an active Poool account to enable wall and engagement functionality. This gives you access to the widgets, rules, and A/B testing tools.
🔗 2. Connect with Arc XP Subscriptions and Identity
The full solution works best when paired with Arc XP Subscriptions and Identity, ensuring seamless registration, entitlements, and server-enforced access control. For setup or integration guidance, reach out to your Technical Account Manager.
🚀 3. Launch, test, and grow
Whether you’re focused on audience engagement, paywall flexibility, or long-term personalization, this integration provides a secure foundation to start from — and room to evolve as your strategy grows.
When you’re ready, customize the starter code as needed, deploy the feature pack in your Arc XP bundle, and start building dynamic, secure audience experiences — managing future experiments and updates right in the Poool dashboard, without touching code.
Future roadmap updates will extend these capabilities, connecting with Arc XP Intelligence features to enable deeper personalization and data-driven audience experiences.
