![[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]](https://www.lsoft.com/images/HDR-LISTSERV-sm.gif)
There are many possible ways to measure the relative "importance" or "size" of LISTSERV sites: number of lists, number of subscribers, number of messages delivered, etc. In most cases, the number of messages delivered is used to rank mailing list managers, because it is the most accurate measurement of the amount of activity on the server. But, depending on what you are looking for, other variables may be more appropriate. There are currently three LISTSERV "Top 20" lists, ranking the various servers according to:
In addition, you can view a list of the Top 20 lists in the network (by number of subscribers).
The statistics are gathered daily by a monitor at L-Soft which polls all the LISTSERV sites that participate in the "open" LISTSERV network over the worldwide Internet. Corporate servers operating in a "closed" environment are not included.
The statistics are organized in monthly reports. The message volume figures are a flat average of the accumulated traffic for the entire month. Thus, a server that delivers 300,000 messages per month will show a daily average of 10,000 messages. In practice, there is a lot less traffic during the weekend, and even during business days there can be significant fluctuations (~30%). The list statistics (number of lists, number of subscribers, largest lists in the network) are measured as of the last day in the month.
For the current month, the message volume figures are averaged based on the number of days that have elapsed. In practice, the figures are not very meaningful in the first few days, especially if the month starts on a weekend. In that case it is best to refer to the previous month for more accurate figures.
A fourth "Top 20" list is available for the more technically oriented: Number of messages generated by the server. This corresponds to the number of mail messages created by the server while processing postings to its mailing lists. LISTSERV delivers its mail using an intelligent mail delivery function called DISTRIBUTE, which improves mail delivery times and reduces bandwidth usage by spreading the delivery chore over scores of participating servers. Each of these servers processes the recipients for its service area (typically its organization or campus). In most cases, DISTRIBUTE simply alters the manner in which the mail is delivered, and the number of messages forwarded to other sites for optimized delivery is roughly equal to the number of messages received by other sites for the same purpose. In some cases, however, this is not the case, either because the server elected to serve a much wider service area than its own organization, or because it is explicitly forwarding all its deliveries to another machine (for instance, many mainframe-based servers forward their mail to a workstation or PC for delivery).
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 2436998 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 535273 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 485518 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 445665 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 5 410479 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 404852 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 389015 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 386920 ISBLISTS.ZDNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 381117 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 365603 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 347609 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 12 330887 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 292997 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 271829 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 267994 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 239507 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 17 234030 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 222004 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 19 192686 LSV.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 187457 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.30)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3455281 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 1944448 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 3 1069469 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 761007 ISBLISTS.ZDNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 651004 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 468575 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 316159 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 8 233875 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 9 207417 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 189651 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 171913 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 156283 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 131663 SERVICES.WEB.AOL.COM (Solaris 2.4) 14 124678 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 15 121316 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 110296 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 106850 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 18 97782 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 95620 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 92272 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 3556 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 2004 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 3 1460 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 1444 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.2) 5 1426 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 6 1283 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 7 1247 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 8 1201 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 993 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 10 965 TC.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.4) 11 961 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 809 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 798 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 765 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 704 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 700 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 687 VM.TEMPLE.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0) 18 675 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 19 625 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.1.5) 20 619 ULKYVM.LOUISVILLE.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2.0)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 832677 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 673180 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 546363 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 520835 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 488446 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 456548 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 7 452887 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 8 451064 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 9 450191 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 398107 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 386920 ISBLISTS.ZDNET.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 367638 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 333249 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 273916 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 15 270961 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 269323 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 17 247716 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.30) 18 218525 CUNYVM (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 19 212589 LSV.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 197052 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 880544 DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 344907 SHAREWARE-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 337984 DOWNLOAD-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 267933 GAMECENTER-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 239433 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 195978 NEWS-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 138146 BROWSER-ALERT-PC@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 112924 DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 95812 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 74999 ANSWERMAN@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 70776 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 68112 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 13 57885 ACTIVEX-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 53911 NEWS-DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 51536 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 16 48934 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 17 44285 MEDIADOME-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 43110 POLOCLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 41621 DOWNLOAD-DISPATCH-MAC@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 40756 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a)
