Naively, I assumed that free tarot readings were offered in the manner of a service ‘sample’, in other words, a very brief amount of time offered in order to give you the flavor of the reader, and to give the reader a chance to reveal her style. However, after doing some investigating I have come to the 
understanding that that is less often the case. I took it upon myself to sample out the ‘free reading’ in order to better understand what was being offered and found myself frustrated and disappointed. In order to receive my reading I had to enter my personal data into a profile, which I acquiesced to, but then could not go any further without a credit card number which was required for my ‘identification’. It became quickly apparent to me that with my credit card number on file the tarot reader or organization was not interested in offering a sample or anything for free, but rather was simply trying to hook me with an enticing introduction, which would be followed up with an agreement to have my credit card charged for further contact. This is not what I consider ‘business with integrity’, nor is it a ‘free tarot reading’ in either a monetary or energy sense.
When we agree to have a tarot reading, or psychic reading, we are inviting the tarot reader or psychic to connect with our intuition or higher self, for the purpose of giving us personal guidance. For me, I don’t want to invest or marry my energy to a person or organization whose intention is to manipulate me, even if have healthy boundaries, and refuse to be manipulated at the end of the day. There is a difference between the ‘win-win’ scenario, in which as a client I need guidance and voluntarily provide money in exchange for that guidance, or as a tarot reader I give guidance in exchange for the voluntary provision of money energy, and the service that lures you toward paying for guidance under the auspices of providing a ‘free’ service.
I do run specials and make free offerings as incentives, but I am straight forward about them. And I am clear with my intention that no one should feel pushed, pressured, tricked or lured into exchanging money for any service. It should feel right.
The second type of ‘free tarot reading’ or ‘free psychic reading’ I have encountered is the computer generated reading, which is not intended to lure a client into a paid reading, but rather to generate traffic to a website. There is no lack of integrity or manipulation inherent in this type of tarot reading or psychic reading, although it does differ from a reading given by a human on many levels.
My belief/understanding is that the Universe communicates with us in an ongoing way. There is always ‘psychic spiritual’ information offered to us as guidance. This may come through many sources, synchronicities, the voice of a stranger, a dream, or a psychic source. As such, if follows that a computer generated reading can give us psychic guidance. Will it every time? Not necessarily. We need to check it with our intuition, and with other guidance that we may be receiving at the time.
A computer generated reading will function like an Oracle card. When we are pulling an Oracle card we ask for a message and accept the message as having some guidance for us at the time. It is up to us then to interpret the guidance, understand the guidance, glean some perspective from the guidance and apply the guidance. The guidance in this case comes straight to us. There is no reader. The computer generating the message is not a tarot reader or psychic reader who draws on her intuition to filter the information, to understand it, to interpret it, to apply it. The computer does not read your energy, see clairvoyantly, feel empathetically and so on. It cannot counsel, answer questions, interact, listen, comfort, and rely on years of experience and insight into spiritual understanding, and or understanding and guiding the psyches of humanity.
There is a place for ‘reading for ourselves’, and I believe that there is much to be gained from engaging in an ongoing dialogue with the divine, the Universe, and so on. I teach people to do just that so as to enhance their lives and create their desires. There is also, for many of us, a time when reading for ourselves does not feel like enough clarity or counsel, when a tarot reader or psychic counselor may be very helpful. The important thing is to differentiate the two. The computer generated free tarot reading is not giving us psychic counsel. 
The last important thing to remember about the free tarot reading is to consider the source. If the computer data base is filled with a lot of negative interpretations of ‘the future’ the recipient of the ‘free tarot reading’ is essentially signing up for free fear. The antidote to this is to choose carefully. If you are going to enjoy a free computer generated reading, even for the entertainment value alone, be sure to choose a source that doesn’t spit out a lot of negative or reverse readings. Make sure the guidance is healing and enlightening. A ‘good’ tarot reader will see a tricky card and tell you how to learn that lesson, whereas a computer generated tarot card message (depending on the deck or interpretation) may focus on what’s wrong, what’s missing, or an unnecessarily harsh version of the tarot card’s message.