![[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 6230983 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1998410 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1431271 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1094801 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 890080 RLY1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 716916 BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 534481 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 8 508171 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 415464 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 386325 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 369327 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 328336 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 321437 MAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 319646 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 267715 JCCMAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 239784 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 17 223176 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 18 221799 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 19 218728 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 198242 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 6445542 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2736840 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1468203 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1403546 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 1104804 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 918498 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 867095 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 705826 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 679464 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 14 584473 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 573716 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 16 540418 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 518407 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 18 499904 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 19 491972 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 20 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 13184 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 2 9576 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 3 5947 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 5224 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 5 4414 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 4230 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 7 4003 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 8 3906 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 3692 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 10 3509 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 3475 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 3385 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 3321 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-18.8smp) 14 3184 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 3006 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 2724 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 17 2410 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 18 2339 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 2099 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1087356 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 858602 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 534506 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 498076 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 469287 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 467325 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 270188 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21) 8 250913 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 9 237090 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 230462 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 11 227422 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 12 220165 LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7) 13 219222 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 212380 LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6) 15 208702 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.20) 16 207919 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 17 175965 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 168514 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 149875 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (SunOS 5.8 (unix)) 20 144224 LS.TIMEINC.NET (SunOS 5.8)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 472934 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 282485 GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 261058 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 4 222483 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 178297 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 160651 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6) 7 142542 CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 124855 MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 116874 WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 111227 BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 106909 OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 84803 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 83205 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 78854 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 15 65161 THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 63907 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 17 58001 PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 55201 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 45870 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
