![[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 4325611 SMTP1.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2984271 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1113162 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 989505 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 5 958339 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 875631 MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 554249 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 551554 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 495953 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 430063 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 398356 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 355412 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 344676 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 342400 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 323053 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 300615 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 298709 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 287493 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 282399 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 20 258578 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4873143 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4278904 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4093505 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067163 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2527092 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1906403 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1724137 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1309113 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1260301 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 824087 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 519116 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 13 513404 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 457399 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 444044 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 433611 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 17 395457 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 307025 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 19 304924 TBINET.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 296480 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8619 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 3844 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 3139 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 4 2722 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 2613 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 6 2549 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2469 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 8 2428 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 2376 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2260 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 11 1932 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1747 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.6) 13 1659 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 1630 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 1623 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 1599 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 1587 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 18 1579 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 1496 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f) 20 1483 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1113162 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 985779 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 3 960966 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 930988 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 709884 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 670373 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 555147 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 547198 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 398356 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 397095 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 367440 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 365734 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 348105 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 319206 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 310834 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 16 306204 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 17 282540 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36) 18 282401 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 19 271681 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 20 267398 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 525718 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 318888 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 259065 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 240764 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 239911 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 174626 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 160585 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 152017 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 130621 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 129983 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 127642 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 122042 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 114858 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 113823 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 101117 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 96227 SSA_ENEWS@WWW.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 19 83709 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 76611 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
