How do you pick a giveaway winner fairly?

Collect every entry into a list, give each entry a number, and pick the winning number with a process that produces a verifiably random result, such as random.org or a draw tool that shows how the number was generated. UK advertising rules (CAP Code rule 8.24) require prizes to be awarded in accordance with the laws of chance, either by a computer process that produces verifiably random results or by an independent person. Keep a record of when the draw happened, how many entries there were, the method used, and the entry list as it stood at the closing date.

Is a random comment picker allowed for an Instagram giveaway?

Yes, provided you can show how it worked. The ASA accepts a computer process that produces verifiably random results. A picker that selects a comment at random and lets you see or reproduce the selection is fine. Scrolling and stopping, or choosing the comment you like best, is not random and would fail rule 8.24 if challenged.

Can I pick the giveaway winner myself?

Not by hand. Rule 8.24 allows selection by an independent person, and someone running the promotion or working for the brand is not independent. You can run a verifiably random computer process yourself, because the randomness comes from the process rather than from you. If you want a person to draw names, it has to be someone unconnected with the promotion, and you need evidence they did it.

What evidence do I need that a giveaway was fair?

The ASA expects the promoter to hold evidence that the winner was selected at random. In practice that means a record of the date and time of the draw, the number of entries, how the winner was chosen, the entry list as it stood when entries closed, and the winning entry. If a person drew the winner, note who they were and that they were independent. The ASA has upheld complaints where a promoter could show no evidence that its selection was random.

Do I have to publish the giveaway winner’s name?

You must publish or make available information that shows a valid award took place, ordinarily the surname and county of the winner. You have to tell entrants at or before the time of entry that you will do this and give them a chance to object or to ask for less to be published. Making the details available on request is enough: you do not have to post a full name publicly.

How to pick a giveaway winner fairly

Two things go wrong with giveaway draws. The pick is not actually random, because someone scrolled the comments and stopped. Or it was random, but nothing was written down, so there is no way to show it. Both are a problem under the UK advertising rules, and the fix for each is small.

This is the plain English version, for a brand, a small business or an influencer running a prize draw on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or a website. It covers what counts as fair, how to do the pick, and what to keep afterwards.

What "fair" means here

A giveaway where nobody pays to enter is a free prize draw. It sits outside the Gambling Act, so there is no licence and no registration. It is still a promotion, so it is covered by the advertising codes that the Advertising Standards Authority enforces.

CAP Code rule 8.24

"Promoters of prize draws must ensure that prizes are awarded in accordance with the laws of chance and, unless winners are selected by a computer process that produces verifiably random results, by an independent person."

So there are two routes to a defensible pick: a computer process that produces a verifiably random result, or a person who is genuinely independent of the promotion. The ASA also expects you to be able to show evidence that the winner really was selected at random. It has upheld complaints where a promoter could produce none.

First, check what kind of giveaway you are running

The rest of this page assumes a free-to-enter draw, which is what most brand and influencer giveaways are. Two things change the picture:

If people pay to enter, or have to buy something with no free alternative route, it is either a lottery, which a business cannot run, or it has to carry a real skill element. The Gambling Commission says the skill must be hard enough to put some people off entering and to stop a proportion of entrants winning. A simple multiple-choice question does not clear that bar.
If you call it a competition, entrants expect skill to decide it. If chance decides it, do not call it a competition.

The guide to UK raffle and draw rules goes through the paid-entry cases and when you would need to register with a council.

A method that is actually random

Get the entries into a list. Export the comments, the tagged entries, the story replies or the form responses into a spreadsheet before the closing time. This is also the moment to drop entries that broke your rules, for example accounts that did not follow the steps, so the pool is the one you actually draw from.
Number every row. One number per entry. If your rules gave someone extra entries for sharing, they get that many rows, and you need to be able to show they met the requirement.
Generate the winning number.Use something that produces a verifiably random result and shows its working: random.org's number generator, a spreadsheet's random function with the seed noted, or a draw tool that records how the number was produced. Screenshot the result next to the entry count.
Match the number to the row. That entry is the winner. Draw extra numbers the same way for runners-up, in case the first winner does not respond.

Scrolling the comments and stopping, picking the entry with the best photo, or letting the platform "pick for you" with no record of how, are all things that would fail rule 8.24 if a complaint were made. The test is not whether it felt fair. It is whether you can show it.

If a person does the pick instead

Names in a bowl is still allowed. Rule 8.24 lets an independent person select the winner in place of a computer process. The catch is what independent means: not you, not your staff, not the influencer whose account it ran on, not the agency. Someone with no stake in who wins. And you still need evidence, so have them do it on camera or in front of a witness who can confirm it.

The evidence to keep

If a losing entrant complains to the ASA months later, this is what answers it. Write it down on the day of the draw:

The date and time of the draw.
How many entries were in it.
The method used, in enough detail that someone could repeat it.
The entry list as it stood when entries closed.
The winning entry, and any runners-up you drew.
If a person drew it, who they were and how they were independent.

Keep the entry list itself, not just a count. A record that says "312 entries" with no list behind it cannot show the draw was not steered, because there is nothing to check the winning number against.

What to tell entrants, and when

CAP Code rule 8.17 requires the significant conditions to be with the promotion before or at the time someone enters. On social media the ASA does not accept "not enough room" as a reason to leave them out, so put them in the post or link to them from it. At a minimum:

The closing date and time.
What the prize is, and how many there are.
Who can enter: age, country, any exclusions.
How the winner will be chosen.
How and when the winner will be contacted.
That you will publish or make available the winner's surname and county, with a way to object.

If you do not have terms written, the free terms and conditions generator produces a set from these rules in about a minute.

After the draw

The ASA says it is the promoter's job to make real attempts to reach the winner. One direct message that goes unanswered is not enough. Try more than one channel, leave a reasonable window, and keep a note of what you tried. If the winner genuinely cannot be reached after that, draw the next number you generated and record why.

Then publish or make available information showing a valid award was made: normally the winner's surname and county. You must have told entrants this at entry and given them a chance to object or to ask for less to be shown. Making the details available to anyone who asks is enough. You do not have to post a full name in public.

The whole thing on one page

When	Do
Before entries open	Publish the significant conditions: closing date, prize, who can enter, how the winner is picked, how they are told, that you will make the winner's surname and county available.
At the closing time	Export every entry to a list. Remove entries that broke the rules. Number the rows.
The draw	Generate the winning number with a verifiably random process, or have an independent person pick. Draw runners-up the same way. Record the date, count, method, list and result.
After	Make real attempts to contact the winner. Publish or make available the winner's surname and county. Keep the evidence.

This is a plain English summary, not legal advice. The Advertising Standards Authority and the Committee of Advertising Practice publish the codes and free advice on prize promotions, and the Gambling Commission is the authority on whether a paid-entry draw is a lottery. Check with them before committing to anything.

Where Prize Desk fits

Prize Desk does the draw and the record in one step. It picks the winners with a cryptographic random number generator, then issues a certificate recording the time, the number of entries, the method, the winners and a SHA-256 fingerprint of the entry list, checkable by anyone at a public link. That fingerprint is what lets you show the list was not edited after the draw without publishing everyone's details. It is free, takes no payment, and sends no email.

Set up a draw Try the draw wheel

Sources, checked for this page: the ASA and CAP advice on prize draws, prize draws in social media and prize winners, the CAP Code section 8, and the Gambling Commission on free draws and prize competitions. Rules can change, so check the current wording before you rely on it. Questions about the page are welcome via the site.