![[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 6384358 LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 1871714 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 1328738 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1031320 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (???) 5 719292 TOPSITEZ.US (Windows NT 5.2 Enterprise Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 609228 SYT19.SENDYOUTHERE.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 567206 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 8 473182 RLY1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 470971 BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 451451 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 424121 MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 373695 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 361388 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 323061 LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 317049 LS.TIMEINC.NET (SunOS 5.8) 16 276248 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 275952 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 251706 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 238250 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 20 235068 JCCMAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3067161 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 2355370 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2020824 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 1458475 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1112409 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1034117 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 934896 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 930231 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 10 786171 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 672543 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 13 664984 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 14 569008 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 15 551567 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 537682 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3) 17 533873 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0) 18 492446 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 19 489112 LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 473345 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 2 9608 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 9590 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 4 9583 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 5 6024 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 6 5261 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-18.8smp) 7 4247 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 8 4120 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3) 9 4082 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 10 3851 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 11 3678 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 12 3593 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 3585 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 14 3234 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 15 2765 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 16 2689 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4) 17 2668 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 2397 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 2131 LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp) 20 2098 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1023210 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (???) 2 846631 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 567233 OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0) 4 472776 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 446000 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 438639 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 317176 LS.TIMEINC.NET (SunOS 5.8) 8 275952 WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 253152 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 245996 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 11 245499 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 12 242809 LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1) 13 229446 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21) 14 197921 MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0) 15 191219 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8) 16 185821 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 177834 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 176235 LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.20) 19 159617 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp) 20 154705 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
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 257232 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 83209 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 78815 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 13 63635 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 14 56190 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 54437 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 16 48524 L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3) 17 45049 GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 44697 FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8) 19 38056 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8) 20 37877 CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
