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 3216176 PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.1-1H1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 1052623 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 686596 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 639974 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 633143 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 631966 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 467211 SEGATE (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 444925 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 9 416089 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 363049 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 11 353858 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 328806 MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 321910 LISTSERV.GMD.DE (OpenVMS V7.1 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 313069 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 15 269514 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 223614 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 217011 LISTSERV-MAIL.SURFNET.NL (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 18 211510 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 19 202096 DIST.LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 200306 LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 5075502 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 4909414 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 3 2886271 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 2869132 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 1945702 ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 6 1063697 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 517806 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 8 457566 LISTSERV.MSN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 402631 LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 383304 LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 304341 LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 226325 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 13 222541 PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 211692 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 179708 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 16 172997 ACM.ORG (AIX 4.2) 17 171864 LISTSERV.OFFICEMAX.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 157217 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 155396 LISTS.DISCOVERY.COM (IRIX 6.2) 20 137851 MAILSERV.DIGITALCITY.COM (Solaris 2.5.1)
Pos Lists Site --- ----- ---- 1 12914 CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.6) 2 4709 LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 2491 LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3) 4 2065 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 5 2015 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 6 1827 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 7 1673 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 1532 LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 1404 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 10 1222 LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 1123 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 12 1083 LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.2) 13 1049 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 994 UGA.CC.UGA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.1.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 931 CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2) 16 930 LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6) 17 902 LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 18 901 LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 19 886 LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.2) 20 876 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4)
Pos Recipients Site --- ---------- ---- 1 1052623 EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 2 870686 PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 830533 DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 825262 HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1b) 5 819418 MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 638101 LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 7 569076 APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 8 508630 MITVMA (VM/ESA 2.2.0) 9 487758 LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.5.1) 10 406216 NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.0.34) 11 386475 LISTS.PSU.EDU (VM/ESA 2.2) 12 386081 LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 374996 ETO.UNTPDC.ORG (IRIX 6.2 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 315247 LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 15 275475 LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (AIX 4.2) 16 257488 H-NET.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.1) 17 255384 LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 240799 AMERICAN.EDU (AIX 3.2.4) 19 217456 LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 3.51 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 191338 GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
Pos Subscribers Site --- ----------- ---- 1 260150 EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 2 206865 SUBSCRIBERS-JAVASCRIPTS-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 3 168888 EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 4 125729 DIETCITY-AOL@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 5 103411 DIETCITY@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 6 94691 SYMPOSIUM-WEBCAST@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 7 93501 DEVELOPER-COM@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 8 84954 SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 9 80039 MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 10 74349 INTERNET-WORLD-CIRCULATION@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 11 71600 CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.5.1) 12 68637 NETGUIDE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 13 66551 ABOUTWORKNEWS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 14 63527 ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b) 15 52624 TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a) 16 51829 DATAMATION-L@LISTSERV.EARTHWEB.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 17 49540 WEBREFERENCE-UPDATE@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 18 46517 MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 19 45972 SEARCH-ENGINE-REPORT@LISTSERV.INTERNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1a) 20 38820 MOMSONLINE@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1a)