![[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 389419 LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 371673 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 3 369144 MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 4 354911 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 5 354377 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 6 347030 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 325111 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 8 320196 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 9 284319 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 283334 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 11 278544 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 12 254308 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 13 233483 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 14 218354 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 201872 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 199933 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 195683 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 191988 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 191328 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 20 186079 EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 4081009 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 2 2627842 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 3 1952483 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 4 1691056 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 5 1202129 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 6 1192348 LISTSERV.CMICH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 1030816 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 8 944040 LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 845743 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 10 820608 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 805798 CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0) 12 794012 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 13 769064 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 14 747892 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 15 744322 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 16 731437 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 17 724761 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 18 714494 LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 683399 LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 20 673654 LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 69913 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8) 2 24846 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 19335 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 4 19178 LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 5 10222 LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp) 6 9683 LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 7 7860 LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp) 8 7759 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3) 9 6855 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 10 6284 TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9) 11 5978 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 12 5286 LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 13 5084 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 14 4895 MARIST (VM/SP 2.0) 15 4888 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 16 4686 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 4633 HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7) 18 4132 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 19 4109 LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10) 20 4042 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 374673 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 363516 LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 3 357177 LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8) 4 317502 H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29) 5 315719 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server) 6 304254 LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003) 7 281897 DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 8 280555 LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 9 279187 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 10 252529 LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9) 11 227823 LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8) 12 210704 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003) 13 199933 LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 14 199357 BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 198733 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 16 185266 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2) 17 177184 LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server) 18 164829 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp) 19 159083 LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b) 20 153795 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 378870 SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 125020 SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 122840 POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9) 4 117096 COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.3-default) 5 83008 TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp) 6 79865 RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 7 74034 E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 8 73896 ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9) 9 69018 L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 10 67076 FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b) 11 65346 PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 12 60972 MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9) 13 60657 EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 14 54489 ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0) 15 52811 FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 16 51392 ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 17 50154 VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp) 18 45005 JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9) 19 44610 L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2) 20 43163 HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)