[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – March 2002


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 (MAR02, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    4704274  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    3256967  MS1.OEN1.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    3015978  LSERV01.LISTS.MEDIATRECLISTS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    2680754  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5    1544071  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     776346  MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     702780  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     581721  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     576762  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10     529723  CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     518608  XMM.NETWORKPROMOTION.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     453901  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
 13     448670  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     434959  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     356411  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     324876  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 17     317518  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 18     302575  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8)
 19     271878  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     249558  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Mar 2002)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4839996  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     4446415  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     3067161  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     1898036  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1355592  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  7     1130893  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
  8     1034574  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      945066  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 10      733954  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 11      670895  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 12      578273  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 13      543075  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      473345  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      470146  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 16      461722  LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      455901  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 18      414167  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 19      401428  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20      396304  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Mar 2002)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  9089  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2  4385  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  3  4264  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  4  4242  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  5  3515  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6  3475  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  7  3428  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  8  3243  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  9  3088  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10  2867  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 11  2714  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  2526  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 13  2325  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7)
 14  2130  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 15  2098  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 16  2034  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17  2029  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 18  1983  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10)
 19  1982  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 20  1956  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAR02, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    1058267  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     724087  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  3     696507  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     572640  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     560798  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     453910  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  7     399495  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     369410  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  9     327237  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10     320729  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11)
 11     301893  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     300548  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 13     297403  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8)
 14     273403  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     256870  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 16     256234  LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.14)
 17     209366  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     209261  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 19     202868  DISCUSS.DEVELOP.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server)
 20     201113  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Mar 2002)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      424397  FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      385792  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      258225  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      253525  SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      197224  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7)
  8      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      159015  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 10      140265  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      132656  VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      124835  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      116874  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      110401  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       88919  STREAMING_MEDIA@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17       85730  TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18       83124  SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       66851  THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)