Running a YouTube prize draw without being accused of rigging it

On YouTube, prizes are rarely worth fifteen euros. Creators give away a microphone, a lens, a console — and the more the prize is worth, the more the suspicion costs. A creator accused of rigging a giveaway does not lose a giveaway: they lose a share of their credibility, and the video stays online to remind everyone.

The problem is not the creator’s sincerity. It is that they have nothing to show. Filming a random number generator proves nothing: the previous take does not appear.

What DrawSeal does not do: read your comments

We do not connect to YouTube and we do not collect the comments on a video. Technical access exists, but it is capped and subject to a review that an outside tool depends on entirely — and the day access goes, it goes during your giveaway.

The recommended method: the link in the description

This is YouTube’s advantage over other platforms: the description is real text space. You put the giveaway’s public page there, and you can fit the whole set of rules in it rather than a link to a link.

Entrants sign up themselves, with double opt-in: a confirmation email, one click. An unconfirmed entry does not join the draw — which incidentally removes most automated sign-ups.

The alternative: the list you bring

You can also import a list as CSV, one address per line. They are then treated as already confirmed: that assumes the list is yours and consent was obtained. That is your responsibility, not ours.

What YouTube requires of you, and does not do for you

YouTube governs contests through its own policies, separate from the law. They change, and we do not copy them here: a page quoting an outdated rule manufactures the dispute it claims to prevent — read them at the source, in YouTube’s contest policies. Keep the three stable points:

• the contest must comply with the law where you and your entrants are;
• official rules must be accessible — the description is the natural place;
• you must release YouTube from any liability, and state that the platform does not sponsor the operation.

The third is the one people forget. It is one sentence in your rules, and its absence is grounds for a video takedown. Our guide to giveaway rules sets out what a complete text must contain.

The filters applied before the draw

The anti-fraud rules are public and known in advance, identical from one giveaway to the next, and applied before the list is sealed:

• double opt-in required;
• disposable domains excluded;
• addresses de-duplicated;
• a cap of three entries per IP address.

No entry is removed after the result. Filtering precedes the computation, and that is what separates it from arranging.

When the prize is valuable: claiming and reassignment

A winner who never answers is the most common case, and the worst handled. Here, a claim window starts at the announcement — 72 hours by default, adjustable per giveaway. After that the prize can be reassigned to the next in line.

The important part: that reassignment is itself verifiable. It is not a matter of striking out one name and picking another by hand, but of continuing the same computation from the same sealed values. A viewer can check the second winner exactly as they checked the first.

Also think about what the law asks of you: depending on the country and the value of the prize, a declaration or a withholding may be due. We are not your tax adviser, and we do not pretend to be.

After the draw: the proof, and the video

The draw produces a public page carrying the commitment published before, the secret number revealed after and the result — recomputable by anyone, with no account. A draw video is generated straight after: that is what you cut into your results video, instead of filming a screen.

Read next

• Giveaway rules — what written rules must contain, clause by clause
• Proof of a draw — screenshot, live stream, notary: what each really demonstrates
• Instagram prize draw — the method on Instagram, and what cannot be verified there

Frequently asked questions