• The New York Times, Wednesday, November 21, 2007 12:47 PM

Chains large and small have quietly handed over their circulars to Web sites like Bfads.net and Gottadeal.com this year to ensure that millions of deal-hungry shoppers see their discounts well before this Friday, traditionally the biggest shopping day of the year. Over the past few weeks, Home Depot, Pacific Sunwear, CompUSA and OshKosh B'Gosh each supplied the sites with an advance copy of its ads, according to the chains and the sites' owners.

With consumers uneasy about the economy, the only thing worse than having a retail circular leaked to the sites, is not having it leaked to the sites, whose popularity and influence have soared since they first materialized in 2003. Michael Brim, the founder of Bfads.net, says the outreach from retailers is "definitely a change of pace from a few years ago when they all wanted to file lawsuits against us."

In 2004, for example, Home Depot demanded that Bfads take down its Friday circular. But this year, the chain is singing a different tune. "These site are popular, and we know people are looking for the information," says spokesman Ron Defeo.

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