It appears that ToysRUs should have put some money toward a search engine optimization (SEO) consultant before it spent $5.1 million on the domain name Toys.com as Google has reportedly de-indexed the URL.

Domain Name Wire reports that because ToysRUs forwarded the domain name rather than transfer it, the site was re-indexed by Google, thereby losing out on its ranking as one of the top results for the search term "toys."

The news provider notes that with the purchase of Toys.com last month, ToysRUS briefly ranked first, third and fourth under the search term.

"Now the value of ToysRUs’ $5.1M purchase of Toys.com has been relegated to type-in traffic and potentially some of the inbound links to Toys.com," writes Domain Name Wire.

At the time of the acquisition, many felt ToysRUs had succeeded in dominating the search engine optimization (SEO) market with the purchase.

"We call it a ‘category killer’ – the best name in any given market," said DomainNameNews.com editor, Adam Strong. "We applaud them on the purchase; it is a singular property."

The apparent oversight by ToysRUs falls in line with a recent report from Conductor which found that most Fortune 500 companies are failing at search engine optimization (SEO).

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.