With more and more children having access to app stores through their phones, millions have found themselves facing unexpected money loss, sometimes in the thousands. Now the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has announced that Google will refund $19 million to consumers who were charged for inadvertent in-app purchases made by their kids through the Google Play Store.

According to the agency, people have been complaining to the FTC since 2011 about this issue. That is when Google introduced in-app purchases into the Play Store. This was a time when passwords were not needed to buy various small and cheap additions to games. 

"For millions of American families, smartphones and tablets have become a part of their daily lives," said FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez in a statement. "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 that they did not authorize."

It was not until 2012 that Google finally added pop-up boxes that asked for a password before a payment could be made. Complaints still arose that the pop-ups never displayed the amount of charges, nor did they inform the consumers that entering a password allowed for a 30-minute window for unauthorized app-purchases to be made without any restrictions.  Google would eventually add in proper restrictions, but by then the damage to consumers' wallets had already been done.

With the new FTC restrictions in place, Google is required to inform consumers who have made in-app purchases of the refund process before the order is processed after 15 days.  The company is also researching modifying its billing process to better restrict micro transactions.

Should Google not refund the full $19 million 12 months after the court order, the company must give the remainder of the amount to consumers or to the U.S. Treasury.

The FTC is currently planning to publish the consent agreement package in the Federal Register at an upcoming, unannounced date. When it is posted, the agreement will be subject to public comment for 30 days until October 6, 2014.