[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – June 2000


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 (JUN00, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3999373  SMTP1.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    2988232  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     777746  LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     773097  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7)
  5     772329  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     624671  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     606672  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
  8     533867  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     479875  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     461515  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     404290  MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     398140  LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     351345  EMAIL.SUPERMARKETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     298669  SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15     293860  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 16     288658  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 17     274343  MEMBERS.ALLADVANTAGE.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     251441  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     244270  LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     239508  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2000)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4925505  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     3960854  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3468589  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     3067169  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1719307  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1503368  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     1461140  LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     1184753  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 10      482942  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 11      435028  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12      434871  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      348123  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 14      315274  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.7-1.15)
 15      296479  SMULTRON.EASE.ALGONET.SE (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      291700  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 17      256279  EMAIL-SERVER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 18      245071  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 19      236675  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 20      201515  MM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Jun 2000)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  5192  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  2  2851  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  3  2847  LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4  2690  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  5  2532  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  6  2413  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7  2365  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.6)
  8  2169  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9  1898  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10  1745  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 11  1526  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 12  1509  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13  1491  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 14  1480  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15  1448  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16  1428  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 17  1399  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 18  1397  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19  1370  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.6)
 20  1334  HERMES.CIRC.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUN00, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     923402  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     805397  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3     777746  LISTSERV.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     773873  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     770133  LISTS.SECURITYFOCUS.COM (SunOS 5.7)
  6     698075  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     621751  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     602684  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
  9     557419  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     398140  LISTS.SMARTPORTFOLIO.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     348215  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12     342235  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 13     311769  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 14     306657  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 15     295678  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.14)
 16     262554  ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     231922  NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.36)
 18     220384  DISCUSS.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 19     219063  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     203973  LISTSERVER.DIGITALRIVER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2000)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      573428  HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      221080  HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      210253  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      208366  GOODIES-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      208180  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      205613  JAVASCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      148428  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 10      145617  SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      144426  SCRIPTS-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      128159  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      127652  SECURITYUPDATE@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      125544  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      122596  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      121027  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      120139  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      105357  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       94970  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       93045  FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)