Parents whose children made in-app purchase on smartphone games may be able to get refunds for the money they never meant to spend.

According to a report from BBC News, the United State Federal Trade Commission launched a complaint against Google concerning in-app charges, saying that the company had broken the “prohibition on unfair commercial practices” by putting in-game purchase options in apps that advertise themselves as “free.”

While parents would avoid these pesky in-app spending offers if they were playing the games themselves, the FTC said that many charges were being unfairly incurred by children playing games on their parents’ mobile devices. Since kids are eager to keep playing the games – and not concerned about money – they tend to succumb to in-app purchase offers, spending their parents’ money without their parents’ knowledge or consent.

“As more Americans embrace mobile technology, it’s vital to remind companies that time-tested consumer protections still apply, including that consumers should not be charged for purchases they did not authorize,” said Edith Ramirez, the FTC chairwoman.

Unfortunately for consumers, the FTC has not ordered Google to stop app developers from including annoying in-game purchase offers in their applications. Instead, the FTC says that Google has to do a better job about letting parents know how much their children could be spending in certain games. That way, parents could keep their children from playing mobile applications that could end up costing them money they did not mean to spend.

Google will also be required to tell parents how they can get refunds for their children’s unauthorized in-app purchases. Finally, Google will pay $19 million to settle the FTC complaint.

Google is neither the first technology company to face FTC scrutiny over in-app purchases, nor the first to settle. In January, Apple settled a similar dispute, agreeing to pay $31.5 million in refunds to parents. Amazon.com, on the other hand, is refusing to settle and wants to fight the FTC over the complaint.