Promotional Content (Google Play) is Google Play's self-service tool, formerly called LiveOps, for promoting time-bound events, offers and major updates as cards on the store listing and across other Play surfaces.
A developer submits a tagline, a description, required images and, ideally, a video, and picks one of three types: offers, time-limited events or major updates. Content can appear on the store listing, the Apps or Games tab, search results and, for games in select regions, the Events tab. Events run for up to four weeks and major updates for 28 days, and each submission passes a review that can take up to four days. All games qualify; apps must meet Play's premium growth tools criteria, with thresholds in the millions of monthly active users or tens of thousands of dollars in monthly spend.
Promotional content is the closest Play analogue to Apple's in-app events: a way to earn surfaces beyond keyword search and give existing users a reason to return. Titles meeting the premium growth tools criteria can also request featuring and target lapsed or churned users. It rewards planning: content can be submitted up to 60 days before an event starts, and events with a featuring request must be in at least 14 days ahead. Google says high-quality content may be featured on more surfaces if the title itself is high quality, so the cards work best on a strong listing with clean technical metrics.
Example
A puzzle game that meets Play's premium growth tools criteria plans a two-week winter tournament, submits a time-limited event six weeks ahead with a featuring request and targets lapsed players. When the tournament ends, it follows with a major-update card announcing the new level pack.