Google has agreed to refund at least $19 million to settle charges that it unfairly billed parents for purchases that their children made while playing video games such as Ice Age Village and Air Penguins on mobile devices.

The US Federal Trade Commission said today that the Internet giant had also agreed to modify its billing practices to ensure that parents know, and agree to, purchases that their children make.

The FTC settled a similar case with Apple in January. Apple agreed to refund to customers at least $32.5 million in unauthorised charges made by children and to change its billing practices to require consent from parents for in-app spending.

The FTC sued Amazon. com in July on the same issue.