![[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 784242 EMAIL.EBGAMES.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 519970 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 3 435261 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 390008 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 5 373001 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 6 340954 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 7 340148 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 8 322187 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 9 307335 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 303690 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 11 296520 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 12 288062 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 13 265053 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 260310 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 253216 PLAYBILLCLUB.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 16 245990 LISTSERV.FUSEPOINT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 231393 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 18 221004 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 219548 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 20 206007 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 3930266 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2085232 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1994312 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 4 1656254 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1014451 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 953981 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 8 885112 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 9 869315 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 10 802545 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 771289 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 12 769746 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 744148 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 14 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 699984 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 17 627575 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 18 627032 LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 625582 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 20 621000 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 53712 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24937 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 19057 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.ELsmp) 5 9458 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 6 7588 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 7 6558 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 8 6442 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8) 9 6049 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 10 5702 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 5115 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 12 4748 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 13 4720 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4669 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 15 4645 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 16 4450 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 17 4003 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 18 3962 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 3059 LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9) 20 2884 LISTS.QUEENSU.CA (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 523456 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 378873 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.3.ELsmp) 3 367938 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 4 341576 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 333782 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 6 323711 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 7 301782 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 8 295847 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 9 288390 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 10 273010 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 265053 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 12 261326 PLAYBILLCLUB.HOSTING.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 233859 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 14 218272 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 213103 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 16 201076 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003) 17 200630 LISTS.AIESEC.NET (Linux 2.6.8-2-686) 18 193406 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 19 186090 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 20 178306 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 377185 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 139638 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 4 105782 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.11.4-21.14-smp) 5 80148 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 79663 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 7 67170 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 64520 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 9 63132 CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp) 10 53050 L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 11 52906 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 12 52837 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 13 52810 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 14 51871 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 15 48227 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec) 16 48195 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 17 43943 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 18 43932 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 42471 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 20 41856 L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)