![[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 3353713 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1016961 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 701150 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 690747 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 576604 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 508937 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 409969 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 385027 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 9 366366 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 289444 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 258481 LISTSERV1.NYTIMES.COM (???) 12 241618 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 232398 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 230637 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 225191 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 16 218153 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 211951 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 205655 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 201417 MORPHEUS.SURPLUSDIRECT.COM (???) 20 195343 LISTSERV.ALLOYONLINE.COM (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 8452241 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4953275 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3597934 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3040415 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1972001 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 1753348 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1665618 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1034940 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 616210 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 10 610654 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 603376 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 570039 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 535861 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 436702 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 279500 MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 263532 LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 262044 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 260973 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 19 251304 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 230004 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 7954 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4972 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2393 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2388 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2294 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 1928 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1858 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1748 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 9 1671 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1361 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1315 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1286 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1245 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 14 1231 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 1191 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 16 1068 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1018 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 996 VM.SC.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 19 976 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 974 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1175768 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 934275 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 911386 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 735239 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 702895 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 666455 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 482534 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 390917 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 9 384116 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (???) 10 310998 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 291554 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 264367 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 260327 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 258481 LISTSERV1.NYTIMES.COM (???) 15 253547 DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 250949 JAVA.SUN.COM (???) 17 244390 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 241327 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (???) 19 240372 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 230848 NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 280954 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 263529 VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 234844 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 224986 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 185318 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 133243 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 127777 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 126581 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 9 110126 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 109001 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 105706 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 103260 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 94382 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 92392 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 84521 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 83482 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 72946 BVDAILYNOTE@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 68771 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 66710 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 63663 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
