I play the Guilele/Guitalele/Guitarlele or Kiku like a small Guitar. As a matter of fact, I am playing the uke pretty much like a small guitar with less strings to worry about, that is more comfortable to hold and to reach because of its shorter size, and that sings at a higher, more cheerful pitch.
To me, the Guilele type of instrument isn't just a marketing scheme. I abandoned the guitar because it was way too big for me. Having an instrument that essentially works the same, but is much more comfortable at a shorter scale and overall length, is exactly what I want, no matter what it is called. I'm very glad that there is an increasing number of makers starting to build instruments to fit this segment, in different price categories, filling the gap between the very cheap stuff (Yamaha, Cordoba, Gretsch) and the expensive models from Kanilea, KoAloha, or custom builders. Also, they provide us players with more options to choose from: different scale lengths, different body shapes, different nut widths, radius fretboard, etc.
A lot of the sub-size, short scale guitars are made for children and therefore have narrow fretboards and are often made cheap. And then there are a few expensive Piccolo or Soprano Guitars that are meant to be tuned an octave up from regular guitar. To me, the pitch of the Guilele, tuned in between G-G (three steps up from a Guitar) to A-A (five steps up from a Guitar), is perfect. The specs I really like for this type of instrument are 17" to 21.5" for the scale, 46mm to 49mm for the nut width, and a radius fretboard.
A common name for this crossover between ukulele and guitar would certainly be helpful, but some of the diversity has to do with copyright protection, with one of the names being owned by Yamaha, I think.
As suggested above, I'd welcome a sub-forum for this type of instrument, as I'm never sure where to post about it: not really a ukulele, bot neither whit the implications of a full-sized guitar.