I'm not exactly a newbie, having hobbied for about 3 years now but....... I often see guys asking how to get some info on a lady and the responses, among many pieces of advice, is to "Google" their phone number. Now I've tried that a few times but always get directed to a site where you have to pay or subscribe to get that information. Am I missing something here or is that what one has to do? Thanks in advance!

If not you are choosing poorly.  Pay sites are always scams.  You should be looking here on TER for well reviewed ladies.  Examine the profile, click on their web sites, check out their ads Links, then get VIP to read full reviews.  Yes, you DO need to read the reviews...  to know if they are good or bad.  (I've seen links to TER reviews...  which were terrible!!  I guess the majority of clients are too cheap to read them!)
skb

What they mean by "Google" their number, is not to obtain the ladies real info, but to see what else pops up when you google her number....sometimes when you Google a number, a ton of ads will come up for said lady, w/all the pics being the same, etc.... other times, the number will go back to a ton of different ads in different cities, with different names & pics, whereas you can kinda assume that the lady in question is a bait and switch or other problems.... But the consensus is that TER is your friend, & in the end, will help you more than Google ever will.

I so agree.  Googling is nice, if you want to see if there are clones or if a lass has multiple pages (and thus, to see which has the best rates - hey, not all of the providers keep their accounts with the same info...worth a try, right?)  But the real test is to look her up on T.E.R.  I've seen a few girls that I wanted to make dates with, but since they did not have a page here, I passed.  (Hell, if they just posted on my regional board, I'da TOFTT but nothing?  Nah...)

Get the VIP membership. It aint a cheap hobby, what's a little extra?

not all the time, but when you are planning.  I might get VIP for a bit, add several to my bucket list.  When I start to research again, I reup my VIP.   VIP is still less costly than a spoiled meeting.  To say nothing of the rip-offs & scams, wasted opportunities & misc expenses.  NO, this is not a cheap hobby but it can be done on a budget.  
Agreed, most of my research does not actually include Google.
skb

When googling the phone is inconclusive, you can often uncover bait & switch and other scams by googling an unusual phrase from their ad. Something with a typo or odd phrasing works best. Enclose it in quotes so that Google searches for the exact phrase, not just some of the words. Scammers often change their phone numbers, but the good news is that they tend to be lousy spellers.