Having never heard of it before, I place even odds this is all a guerrilla marketing stunt by PH to make itself seem somehow relevant.

In the big picture of all the things you need to do to successfully launch a product Product Hunt isn't hugely important. You can definitely launch something without featuring on there. But as a self-selected group of users who're interested in startups and new products, and who are willing to try things before they're finished, PH is certainly the best thing out there. And it's inner circle of users know that, and (maybe) abuse their position as gatekeepers to help their friends over outsiders.

Whether or not it's a 'scam' is endlessly debatable but regardless of that it could definitely use some competition.

It reminds me of the DMOZ dramas a few years back.

Not for small startup that cries for early adopters...