Following what has become a tradition for scaling Web companies, a number of ecommerce giants are testing TV campaigns this season. They include Gilt Groupe, One Kings Lane, Fab.com, OpenSky, and Wayfair. “All of the companies are hoping to see a lift in sales and increased brand awareness, but the immediate beneficiaries of this trend will clearly be TV networks that have strong female demographics,” AllThingsD writes.

In a bit of technological irony, retailers are relying on the mobile Web to lure shoppers away from desktop-dominated ecommerce and back into stores. “The bait is technological tools that will make shopping on the busiest day of the year a little more sane -- and give shoppers an edge over their competition,” The New York Times reports. For instance, “Those with smartphones in hand will get better planning tools, prices and parking spots.”

Setting a new record for the photo-sharing service, Instagram users uploaded some 10 million pictures on Thanksgiving Day. Even more impressive, “for several hours on Thursday, its users posted more than 200 photos about the American holiday every second,” The Next Web notes. “In fact, the day broke all Instagram records, making it the busiest day for the mobile photo sharing service ever.” On an average day, the Facebook-owned company sees roughly 5 million photos uploaded.

So much for Etch A Sketch’s and Rubik’s Cube’s. This holiday season, nearly half of U.S. kids age 6 to 12 will ask for an iPad, according to a new survey from Nielsen. “Kids want Apple products,” the Los Angeles Times writes. “Specifically, the iPad.” Also popular on wish lists is the Nintendo Wii U, which just launched over the weekend. Nearly four-in-ten kids are hoping for one of those.

Most parents of teenagers are concerned that their kids' online activities “might affect their future academic or employment opportunities,” according to new data from The Pew Internet Center. “The research into parents’ concerns comes as legislators in Europe consider a policy called ‘the right to be forgotten,’ meaning that Web users should be entitled to delete their digital past records,” The New York Times’ Bits blog notes. 

Maker Studios -- which specializes in creating and distributing YouTube clips -- is reportedly close to raising $40 million from Time Warner and other investors. As AllThingsD reports: “The media conglomerate, via its Time Warner Investments arm, is leading a $40 million round that sources say should close within the next three weeks.” To date, Maker has raised $4 million from Greycroft Partners and GRP Partners. 

Earlier this week, reports suggested that an antitrust suit was imminent for Google. Now, however, sources tell Bloomberg that the Federal Trade Commission is unsure whether it can prove whether consumers are hurt by the way Google ranks its search results, and, as such, might not pursue the case. 

Google is preparing an alternative to Apple’s wireless media steaming service AirPlay. “YouTube unveiled the first implementation of this technology last week, when it launched AirPlay-like video beaming from Android phones and tablets to Google TV devices,” GigaOm reports. But, that’s just the beginning, according to Google product manager Timbo Drayson. 

Critical to Yahoo’s long-term success, Wall Street appears to be warming to the Web portal and its recently appointed CEO, Marissa Mayer. “The Internet pioneer has yet to actually provide Wall Street with any hard evidence that its business is turning a corner … but investor faith in the ex-Google executive is running high,” Reuters reports. In fact, Yahoo shares just reached their highest level in a year and a half. 

Among a number of suitors, Yahoo is reportedly considering a bid for TVGuide.com in the range of $20 million. “TVGuide.com is right in the wheelhouse of Yahoo’s acquisition efforts under CEO Marissa Mayer,” Kara Swisher writes in AllThingsD. Along with the TV network, Lionsgate bought the TVGuide online entertainment listings, video and news site and mobile app in 2009.