Add one more name to the list of online discount sites vying for dollars from Boston area shoppers: Google

The Internet search giant is bringing its online daily bargain site, Google Offers, to Boston and four other cities today. It joins dozens of online discount services that have been launched since Groupon.com inaugurated the concept three years ago.

Google Offers was inaugurated in Portland, Ore. three months ago, and was launched in New York City and San Francisco last month.

Google’s product is similar to Groupon, which pioneered the “daily deal’’ online coupon in November 2008. Since then dozens of discount sites have been established, including the number two daily deal site, LivingSocial, now partially owned by Amazon.com, and sites from Facebook and Yelp.

The Boston Globe’s online site, Boston.com, has its own daily deal site, called Boston Deals. And a business-to-business site called RapidBuyr launched in Boston last month, targeting small and mid-size companies seeking bargains on office equipment and other products.

Last month, however, Facebook shut down its deal site, and Yelp reduced its online couponing staff by half, indicating the sector may be saturated.

Raymond Boggs, vice president of small and medium business research at IDC, a Framingham research firm, said that Google’s brand recognition gives the site a good chance of success, even in a crowded market.

“The Google name is so visible, and it’s such a compelling brand, that it’s already on people’s radar,’’ he said.

Eric Rosenblum, Google’s director of product management, commerce, said that to participate, users need a Google ID, the same ID they would use for the company’s other products, like its e-mail service, Gmail.

Google Offers uses Checkout, the company’s own payment service.

The first deal on the site is a half-price offer from Toscanini’s Ice Cream in Cambridge’s Central Square, down the street from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Mimi Rancatore, co-owner of Toscanini’s, said it was an easy decision to partner with Google Offers.

“I’m not the tech type,’’ she said, “but I mean, they are Google. They are a big deal.’’

Rosenblum, who is based in Mountain View, Calif., said he took an active role in selecting Toscanini’s as the Boston-area launch partner for Google Offers.

“I still have fond memories of their burnt caramel ice cream,’’ he admitted.

D.C. Denison can be reached at denison@globe.com.