![[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 2941043 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2038783 LIST.FLOWGO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1904467 LIST.JUSTSAYWOW.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 900308 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 747429 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 6 726420 MAIL.VIRTUALPOSTMAN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 645635 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 614809 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 578196 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 553306 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 11 500914 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 430384 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 393491 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 322321 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 304535 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 296556 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 284061 MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 282718 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 19 276814 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 276249 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4930767 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4149729 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3286671 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067171 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1698131 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1436526 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1433143 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1045588 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 638256 EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 483531 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 471223 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 13 427590 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 403720 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 15 343599 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 16 302439 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15) 17 296730 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 291424 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 275502 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 244027 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9768 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4993 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2835 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 2647 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 2474 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2394 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2351 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 8 2197 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 9 2162 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1886 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1721 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 1508 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 13 1498 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 1481 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 1463 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 1426 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1403 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 1399 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 19 1377 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 1320 HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 2038783 LIST.FLOWGO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1881366 LIST.JUSTSAYWOW.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 907478 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 857329 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 799505 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 751926 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 744471 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 8 650611 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 645635 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 549386 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 11 515526 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 358967 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 332755 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 14 326606 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 301950 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 16 296139 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 17 285059 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 18 276814 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 243726 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 239265 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 583634 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 205084 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 204197 GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 200355 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 196435 JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 177143 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 150211 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 148693 SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 144705 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 12 133283 BVTESTLIST@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 130888 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 127661 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 126652 BVNEWSLETTER@EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 16 126531 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 124256 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 120602 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 104222 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 92380 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
