Free information is usually secondary information. And the problem with secondary information is that everyone else has access to it. It doesn't give you an advantage. You won't gain an advantage over other people unless you spend more time and money than they do. But ultimately you want information that can't be found in any database.
Human intelligence beats machine intelligence.
Most information never gets written down. It's just floating in people's heads. The only way to access that information is to talk to people. That's why the most valuable network is the human network. Group intelligence beats individual intelligence.