Company Sleuth, the self-described "top covert information specialist providing free, legal, inside information on publicly traded companies" on the Internet informed its registered users last week that it will begin to charge for it reports beginning in May. The new services will be available on a test basis for free during the first week of May. According to the site's customer service team, "users that decide not to subscribe will have limited access to select company reports and notification capabilities."

In all of its e-mail communications with users over the past week, the site has touted the increased flexibility users will have under the new pay service. According to the e-mails, users will be able to track up to 50 companies (compared to the current 10). Additionally, the company promises more information on each company followed, new screen views that will allow users to see more information on any of the companies they're tracking on a single page, and the ability to easily save daily reports to an off-line folder.

When specifically queried about the cost of the new service, and which of the site's services would still be available for free, the response from Company Sleuth's did not answer either question.

For an in-depth review of the site's current features, see Carole Levitt's article "Digging for Clues on Public Companies with CompanySleuth.com" at LLRX.com.