Retailers and deal sites have already started their annual game of Leak-the-Black-Friday-ad. But it's starting to look like stores' fights to keep the ads off deal sites may be as much about posturing as they are about confidentiality.

More than 30 retailers' ads have already been released - somehow - to deal sites this holiday season. By Tuesday afternoon, sites had already gotten copies of ads for deals starting the day after Thanksgiving for stores including Sports Authority, RadioShack and Kmart.

On Monday, Macy's released a "sneak peek" of 15 of its Black Friday deals. The same day, BFAds.net published the department store's 52-page Thanksgiving Day circular. FatWallet.com says it held off publishing it at Macy's request, but then published it Tuesday. BradsDeals.com says it still hasn't published it because Macy's asked it not to.

"We have not authorized any release of information at this point beyond what was included in yesterday's news release," said Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski. He says it's hard for consumers to know what's accurate "when the information does not originate from Macy's."

On Friday, Ace Hardware's Black Friday ad reappeared on deal sites, replacing a "cease and desist" letter Ace's lawyers had sent earlier in the week insisting the ads be taken down. Brad Wilson, founder of BradsDeals.com, says the lawyers sent an "approved" ad that was identical to the ad his BlackFriday. BradsDeals.com site had posted earlier in the week.

"They were likely either trying to manage the timing of the release, or someone higher up realized how dumb it was to get in the way of free advertising and righted their lawyer's wrong," Wilson says. "We basically fell for their 'Ace has not approved the proof' accuracy ploy."

Ace declined to comment.

The ads come to deal sites in a variety of ways. Sometimes they are poorly reproduced versions of ads, which Wilson believes probably come from print shop workers using their cellphone cameras. Other times, they are good copies sent from personal e-mail accounts that Wilson suspects are from company officials trying to appear unofficial. And then Wilson says there is the "outright, transparent calculated leak," which tends to come from a "VP of marketing, saying 'Go ahead.'

"If the ad stays up for more than a few hours, it's most likely implicit that the retailer is fine with it being public," says Brent Shelton, spokesman for FatWallet.com. "Of course, they may have just missed the ad leaking right away or their process for a C&D may take longer than others."

Wal-Mart, which would not comment, has probably been the most aggressive in sending out cease-and-desist letters asking sites to take down the discounter's Black Friday ads. It recently started sending pre-emptive C&D letters. Still, BFAds.net said in an online post last year that Wal-Mart said it could post the discounter's Black Friday 2010 deals ad six days early and the 2009 one five days early.

Last year, however, Wal-Mart released their Black Friday deals on its own Facebook page two full weeks before Black Friday, which BFAds.net founder Michael Brim says was "easily the earliest their ad has ever been posted."

"I think retailers are finally starting to realize the advertising and promotional benefit of having their Black Friday ads out early," Brim says.

BradsDeals.com's picks for the five best Black Friday promotions - so far:

--RadioShack Samsung Galaxy S III. This phone is $49.99 with a two-year Sprint contract, saving $150 over the usual price with contract. This isn't better than Sprint's own offer, but RadioShack is also giving customers $10 of store credit for every $50 they spend. Wilson suggests throwing in an inexpensive pack of batteries for $1.99 to get the total over $50, qualify for the credit and get the best deal so far on this phone.

--RadioShack Kindle Fire HD. At $199.99, it's not actually marked down, but you get $30 in store credit. Get your order over $200 and you get $40 in store credit. Staples has a similar Kindle promotion but BradsDeals says RadioShack's cash-back deal is better than the Staples gift card.

--Bealls $5 Barbie Dolls. Select Barbie dolls will be $5 at Bealls on Black Friday. These dolls are normally priced between $15 and $20.

--Sports Authority golf clubs. Tommy Armour Silver Scot complete set of men's or women's golf clubs. These sets normally retail at $599.99, but Sports Authority will have them for $199.99.

--Dell Inspiron 14z Laptop. At $299.99, this limited-quantity doorbuster will not last. Includes 2nd generation Intel Core i3 processor, Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB memory and 500GB hard drive, and usually retails for $599.99.

USA Today