![[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 3396213 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 1040420 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 809827 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 650913 SDEM1.SURPLUSDIRECT.COM (???) 5 577685 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 560703 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 485378 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 464351 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 9 457366 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 442878 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 415587 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 391540 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 329656 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 14 315791 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 313280 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 284966 LISTSERV.15SECONDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 277514 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 270566 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 260325 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 20 241456 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3252657 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 3076560 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 2176775 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 1553858 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 1002657 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 704986 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 463733 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 384632 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 378275 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 10 213862 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 202630 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 197128 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 181586 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 14 153792 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2) 15 138072 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 16 122784 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 120062 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 18 118973 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 19 111655 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 105036 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 3825 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 2327 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 3 1619 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 4 1527 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1451 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 6 1426 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1319 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1274 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 1105 TC.UMN.EDU (Solaris 2.4) 10 1088 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 11 1037 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 887 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 852 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 837 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 789 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 753 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 17 748 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 736 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.1.5) 19 719 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 20 699 VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.1)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1040420 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 1023883 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 1004329 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 751765 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 650913 SDEM1.SURPLUSDIRECT.COM (???) 6 625078 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 7 594012 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 572568 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 552649 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 513212 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 481172 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 12 439276 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 385082 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.0a) 14 383111 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 325168 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 322681 LISTSERV.15SECONDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 310747 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 18 286616 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.32) 19 266423 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 264851 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 265240 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 95063 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 69410 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 68355 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 67169 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 61918 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 50583 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 44398 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 35907 SNACKS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 33067 SAGEONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 32793 NEW-KEYWORDS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 32264 UCSMON@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 31754 SCOUT-REPORT@LISTS.INTERNIC.NET (Solaris 2.5.1) 14 29972 CHRISTIANITY-ONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 29422 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 27484 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 26921 AHHPULSE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX A.09.04 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 26784 SCOUT-REPORT@HYPATIA.CS.WISC.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 25074 NETGUIDENOW-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 24829 SEARCH-ENGINE-REPORT@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
