![[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 3093334 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 1295023 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 667106 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 619087 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 611527 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 574157 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 428169 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 372899 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 355847 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 323487 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 265104 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 12 249288 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 235677 LISTSERV.15SECONDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 230055 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 221604 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 214911 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 203840 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 18 179602 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 178488 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 167018 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4942466 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 3855198 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2721856 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 1903491 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 1862146 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 1004188 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 457692 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 448458 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 401110 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 288757 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 224514 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.0a) 12 205861 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 191906 LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 172988 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 15 155360 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2) 16 152464 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 17 132391 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 125786 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 19 125103 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 20 112835 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 6936 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 2139 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 3 1809 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 4 1710 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 1617 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 6 1482 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 1472 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1184 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1062 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 972 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 11 931 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 864 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 855 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.4) 14 846 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 843 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 821 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 17 813 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 786 VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 776 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 20 753 VM.SC.EDU (VM/ESA 2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1295023 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 854788 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 845767 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 801818 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 754467 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 578973 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 540906 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 532877 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 9 424244 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 345866 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 345763 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 12 325652 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 266862 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 264830 LISTSERV.15SECONDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 251539 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 248156 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 17 210984 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 186108 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 182675 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 182151 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 272482 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 168360 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 128381 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 94834 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 87862 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 86829 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 83941 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 83499 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 68852 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 68545 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 66041 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 65670 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 51321 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 41651 WEBREFERENCE-UPDATE@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 40903 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 39953 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 38848 SNACKS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 36360 SEARCH-ENGINE-REPORT@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 35564 UCSMON@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 33977 CHRISTIANITY-ONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a)
