![[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 3104831 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1528893 LIST.JUSTSAYWOW.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 839277 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 626753 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 606626 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 537828 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 7 505516 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 493278 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 473966 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 436616 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 359559 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 339516 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 330813 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 312096 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 307307 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 284170 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 275199 MAIL.VIRTUALPOSTMAN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 242246 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 237010 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 226353 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5020150 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4331984 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3146117 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067178 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1695205 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1355476 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1245130 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1069511 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 748332 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 632830 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 610634 MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 458625 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 14 417673 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 394566 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 344796 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 327438 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 18 293185 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 19 273088 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 260672 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9648 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4993 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3435 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2917 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2606 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2373 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2330 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 8 2158 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 2158 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 10 1834 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1715 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 1486 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 13 1483 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 1473 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 1463 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 1425 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1424 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1366 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 1343 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 1295 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1527061 LIST.JUSTSAYWOW.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 877607 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 846158 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 820155 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 791158 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 617308 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 535223 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 8 523889 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 505516 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 489477 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 11 423955 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 370368 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 13 353789 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 314948 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 311331 LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 295989 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 17 281550 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 18 272389 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.12) 19 265516 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 225166 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 595075 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 203968 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 189173 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 187664 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 182236 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 182155 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 151049 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 149381 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 141758 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 140182 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 133279 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 14 127634 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 126648 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 16 124892 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 121804 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 120128 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 90894 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 89951 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
