[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – June 2004


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 (JUN04, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    9781561  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    3093863  LSRV01.QUADPLEXIC.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    1907598  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     568283  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  5     523320  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     433433  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     388905  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     379615  MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     357091  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     356659  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
 11     355355  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 12     349417  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     251803  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     251335  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     250706  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 16     229137  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 17     216595  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 18     211674  LISTSERV.DFN.DE (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 19     211017  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 20     210818  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3762759  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4     1200722  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  5     1178719  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     1042909  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
  7     1034117  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      963735  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      930516  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10      819233  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp)
 11      747290  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 12      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      633036  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 14      618938  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0)
 15      587653  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 16      577635  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 17      559444  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
 18      544965  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 19      500143  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 20      495590  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Jun 2004)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 21726  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-20.8smp)
  2 19406  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4 17792  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  5  9439  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  6  7553  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
  7  4949  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
  8  4605  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
  9  4466  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  3965  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11  3911  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  3901  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 13  3814  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 14  3801  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15  3771  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 16  3206  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 17  2582  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  2316  LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp)
 19  2244  LISTS.VCU.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-5)
 20  2185  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUN04, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     841993  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     568317  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  3     513378  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  4     447902  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     417039  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  6     380331  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     289228  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.26)
  8     285338  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
  9     257387  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 10     250762  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.20-28.7smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     243084  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     233912  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13     232486  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 14     210818  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     201513  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 16     195102  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     157099  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     148795  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     146962  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     146059  LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.25)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Jun 2004)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      292065  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  2      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      160651  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  6      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      124855  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9       80745  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 5.1)
 10       68416  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 11       68415  CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-30.9smp)
 12       62128  CL-ANNOUNCE@LIST.MSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13       61922  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 14       57675  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 15       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       46319  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 17       45551  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 18       38696  ALUMNEWS@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       37877  CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       37663  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)