![[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 4074967 SMTP1.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3048177 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1240370 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 967050 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 5 959871 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 567204 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 500343 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 484765 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 426606 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 403985 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 398714 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 394285 EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 356347 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 14 338683 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 15 325999 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 324071 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 281130 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 18 277804 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 268803 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 243101 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5061537 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4845156 LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 4125269 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 3067163 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 2525547 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1923425 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1725717 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 1314761 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 1294639 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 852878 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 12 539188 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 535405 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 14 457706 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 15 456483 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 420825 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 414413 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 315095 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 19 296569 SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 286026 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 8685 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4031 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 3 3552 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6) 4 3184 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 5 2789 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 2607 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 2540 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 8 2482 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 2420 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2322 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 11 1948 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 1817 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 13 1708 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 1675 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 15 1666 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 16 1637 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 1619 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 18 1551 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f) 19 1515 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 20 1491 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1240370 LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 976518 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 963245 LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7) 4 961293 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 725689 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 670988 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 545743 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 480809 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6) 9 403985 LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 378529 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 11 368195 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2) 12 358705 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 13 346865 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 346839 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14) 15 338685 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 16 323607 ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 286250 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16) 18 281079 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 19 233982 LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 230120 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 513826 HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 309821 SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 267504 HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 246727 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 222615 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 211768 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 172488 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 153995 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 11 131498 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 129932 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 127648 SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 122744 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 112631 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 102963 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 101178 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 19 83720 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 77279 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
