![[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 4704274 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3256967 MS1.OEN1.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3015978 LSERV01.LISTS.MEDIATRECLISTS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2680754 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1544071 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 776346 MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 702780 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 581721 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 576762 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 529723 CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 518608 XMM.NETWORKPROMOTION.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 453901 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 13 448670 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 434959 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 356411 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 324876 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 17 317518 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 18 302575 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 19 271878 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 249558 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4839996 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 4446415 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1898036 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1355592 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1130893 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 8 1034574 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 945066 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 10 733954 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 11 670895 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 578273 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 13 543075 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 470146 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 461722 LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 455901 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 18 414167 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 19 401428 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 396304 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 9089 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 4385 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 3 4264 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 4 4242 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 3515 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 3475 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 7 3428 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 3243 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 3088 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 2867 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 2714 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 2526 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 13 2325 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7) 14 2130 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34) 15 2098 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2034 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 2029 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 18 1983 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10) 19 1982 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 20 1956 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1058267 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 724087 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 696507 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 572640 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 560798 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 453910 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 7 399495 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 369410 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 9 327237 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 320729 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11) 11 301893 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 300548 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 13 297403 JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8) 14 273403 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 256870 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 16 256234 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14) 17 209366 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 209261 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 19 202868 DISCUSS.DEVELOP.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server) 20 201113 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 424397 FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 385792 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 258225 REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 253525 SKIMAPS@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 197224 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7) 8 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 159015 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 10 140265 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 132656 VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 124835 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 110401 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 88919 STREAMING_MEDIA@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 85730 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 83124 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 66851 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
