[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – June 1999


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).

What do these numbers mean exactly?

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).


Top 20 sites by volume delivered daily (JUN99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3480444  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1029233  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     722169  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     695117  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     630632  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     482019  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     435532  SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  8     409486  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  9     315429  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 10     301454  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 11     261164  LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1-1H2 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 12     260853  AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13     246175  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     244875  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15     212668  NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???)
 16     208217  LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     203747  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 18     200650  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     195929  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 20     190076  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Jun 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     6755967  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     4953404  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3548646  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     2362849  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     1667468  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1595253  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     1446756  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  8      735722  LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  9      610657  MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      585975  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 11      551260  MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1)
 12      510661  LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      401112  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      262894  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15      248732  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 16      246786  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 17      229499  SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      219489  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 19      208075  LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20      200019  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Jun 1999)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  4646  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  2  2364  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  3  2315  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  4  2047  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  5  1860  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6  1744  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7  1718  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
  8  1647  LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9  1644  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10  1367  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 11  1282  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  1230  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13  1192  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 14  1175  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1)
 15  1150  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 16  1144  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 17  1023  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18   947  HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 19   946  VENUS.VCU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 20   940  LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUN99, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    1201373  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     948321  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     916503  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4     806191  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     702485  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     630650  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     486779  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  8     463821  MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0)
  9     385849  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 10     339013  LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2)
 11     323637  AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12     282365  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 13     270534  NEWSHOST.NYTIMES.COM (???)
 14     270373  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15     263120  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     236245  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     228520  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 18     227127  H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1)
 19     219414  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 20     207621  JAVA.SUN.COM (???)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Jun 1999)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      226257  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      215796  DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3      208073  VALUE-MAIL@LISTS.EMAILDIRECT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      196126  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      166401  DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6      133238  BVTESTLIST@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1)
  7      126571  BVNEWSLETTER@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1)
  8      108622  JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      106001  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      105269  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11       99950  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 12       99671  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13       96007  SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14       94434  SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15       92467  DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       87090  SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17       84761  SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 18       72941  BVDAILYNOTE@MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1)
 19       68753  NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       66689  ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)