I have friends who do judging for the AIAS panels, and they take the process pretty seriously. Game devs aren't immune to popularity however. But for something so broad as game of the year, I'd really have to see the judging criteria to agree with this particular winner. I think it's a little sad that Outer Wilds lost out, since I feel like it was more interesting and innovative overall than Goose was.
I do feel like some of the award categories are a bit awkward for direct comparisons and should be divided up, like the strategy/sim and family games ones.