[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – August 2001


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 (AUG01, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    5258838  CHEWBACCA5.YESMAIL.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    3744023  LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    2606584  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    2398610  LISTSERV.SYTEBUILDER.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5    1953328  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6    1899081  MAILSVRSQL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7    1256004  LISTSERV.ELOTTONET.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8    1196747  SILVER.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9    1081421  EWMAIL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10    1077683  EWAOL.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     914145  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     846816  MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     582297  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     550408  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 15     516799  EWMAIL2.DM360.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     485085  EWMAIL2.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     387509  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     386828  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
 19     302881  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     300328  EWAOL2.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2001)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     5951299  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     5070284  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     4858166  LISTSERV.WOMEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server)
  4     3067161  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     2006247  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1609804  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  8     1250910  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      899722  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 10      763292  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 11      636965  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 12      633568  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 13      532014  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 14      509567  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      474101  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      461723  LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      452997  ORACLE.WIZARDS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      416270  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 19      358038  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 20      313381  DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Aug 2001)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1  8502  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2  4299  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  3  3670  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  4  3568  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  5  3046  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6  2997  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  7  2863  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
  8  2749  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9  2332  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  2213  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11  2059  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12  2035  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.0.34)
 13  1905  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)
 14  1884  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Solaris 2.7)
 15  1872  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 16  1832  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17  1825  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  1822  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 19  1803  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 20  1670  LISTSERV.NODAK.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (AUG01, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    3744025  LIST.EDIETS.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1024262  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     910580  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     685763  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  5     549397  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     512829  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     381637  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.6)
  8     366897  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  9     341569  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 10     302881  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     276106  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 12     268743  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.2)
 13     268455  LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.2.16)
 14     251319  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.16)
 15     227293  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (AIX 4.3.2.01 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     222980  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     219671  LISTS.MSTAR.NET (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     207742  DISCUSS.DEVELOP.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server)
 19     201471  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     199849  LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2001)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      426664  HPJ2@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      319273  FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      293196  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      282332  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      258250  REGARDS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      256058  SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      203134  HPJ@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      197306  MICROSOFT_SECURITY@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      188004  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7)
 11      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      171961  THE-SCIENTIST-L@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      163680  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 14      127205  VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      126273  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16      124826  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      120954  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.10.20 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18      116874  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      113347  MONEYDAILY@LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
 20      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)