![[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 3050882 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 700988 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 640167 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 558652 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 533350 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 6 520945 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 469392 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 417030 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 9 415823 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 406431 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 398530 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 394260 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 337537 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 273851 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 271383 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 16 248884 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 248275 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 236367 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 19 204960 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 203821 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 2715113 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 2220157 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 2022240 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 4 1557146 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 717545 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 467472 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 354321 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 236340 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 9 213498 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 183319 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 178995 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 160810 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 133516 SERVICES.WEB.AOL.COM (Solaris 2.4) 14 129887 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 15 127524 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2) 16 114135 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 112081 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 18 103822 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 103549 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 101798 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 3804 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 2228 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 3 1666 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 1488 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 5 1468 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 1405 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 7 1342 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 8 1284 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1074 TC.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.4) 10 1056 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 969 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 843 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 841 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 810 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 766 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 720 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 17 712 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 688 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 19 669 VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 20 662 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.1.5)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1004181 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 886863 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 681596 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 665983 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 640167 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 544445 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 7 527512 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 507124 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 506511 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 494523 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 11 490648 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 12 426122 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 372290 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 315011 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 15 292961 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 282298 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 17 248174 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.32) 18 241085 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 223702 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 215293 LSV.UNTPDC.ORG (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 878961 DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 334050 SHAREWARE-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 317553 DOWNLOAD-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 247718 GAMECENTER-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 238146 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 179364 NEWS-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 124282 BROWSER-ALERT-PC@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 113276 DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 95278 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 74996 ANSWERMAN@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 68222 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 64971 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 58939 DEVELOPER-COM@EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 58100 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 15 53476 NEWS-DISPATCH-HTML@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 51296 ACTIVEX-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 49521 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 18 42523 POLOCLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 42233 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.0a) 20 40792 MEDIADOME-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
