The first of these sites would have given you the name and address related to the telephone number for free, but the second type of site would charge you a small fee after assuring you that this information was actually available.
So why does one site charge for something that the other site gives away for free?
In fact, both sites deliver very different search results. The sites that offer a free lookup only have information about landlines.
Landline directory information is considered to be in the public domain, so it can be easily accessed by these companies and built into databases.
Websites like whitepages.com, which already have these databases in order to provide a standard telephone search by name, can simply reverse their query logic to provide an easy reverse phone lookup for users.
But cell and unlisted numbers do not appear in this public domain information, and so are not accessible through free lookup services.
Companies that offer cellular phone information via a reverse lookup directory spend a lot of time and money in order to compile cell phone information for valuable and accurate lookup services.
Such companies are definitely not breaking and privacy laws or violating any restrictions. Although providing a tool that would give cell phone numbers to people who simply searched by a name is not legal, a reverse lookup for cell numbers is legal.
Actually, this is the only search option for cell phone numbers that is available to the average Joe. The reason this type of search is legal is because in order to conduct it, you have to already have the cell phone number.
In reality, this means that either someone has given you the number, or someone has called you from that particular number which has been stored in your phone.
Because of this, you have the right to know who is calling you or who the number belongs to.
Many sites that provide a reverse cell phone lookup service allow you to pay per search, or pay a one-time or annual fee for many searches.
The choice you make will be entirely up to the reasons you are choosing to search, and how many times you will need to search for different numbers.
However, it is good to remember that if you elect to use a free reverse phone lookup search that doesn't provide you with the information needed, that there is an option available that will give you quality results for a minimal price.
