DN has some very clear guidelines around advertorial-style content. Are the votes on these Wake posts actually legit?

From https://www.designernews.co/about#guidelines (see "Unwelcome Stories")

We realize there is a bit of gray area regarding both appropriate and beneficial content. The following types of stories are frowned upon, and subject to moderation:

• Anything overly advertorial in nature

• Excessive self-promotion, including posting to the same URL multiple times in a given timeframe or exclusively to the same domain