[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – July 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 (JUL02, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    7572839  ALABAMA.IREAYE.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    6310902  BOBCAT.MXSYS.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    4645043  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    3408339  ARIES.EMAIL3.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5    2254720  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6    1810577  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7    1356735  ALASKA.IREAYE.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     641076  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     587520  MAIL1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     519354  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     510515  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
 12     498329  VELA.EMAIL3.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     465758  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 14     456094  CNNIMAIL23.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     438263  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     394661  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     297933  LISTSERV.CAMPBELLKITCHEN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     257634  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8)
 19     246073  JAGGEDMAIL.JAGGEDMIND.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     232582  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     6445542  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     4655401  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     4361255  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  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     1725814  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  7     1722866  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     1280789  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
  9     1034390  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      776629  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 11      731233  LISTSERV.UNITEDWAY.ORG (Windows NT 4.0)
 12      697912  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13      642736  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 14      597625  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15      521205  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 16      473345  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      462337  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 18      461722  LISTAS.STARMEDIA.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      441859  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20      420260  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)

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

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 12741  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2  4450  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  3  3653  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4  3605  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  5  3512  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
  6  3286  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  7  3250  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  8  3119  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9  2809  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  2798  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 11  2698  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12  2469  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 13  2256  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)
 14  2237  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
 15  2234  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 16  2214  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 17  2017  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
 18  2009  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19  1989  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (OSF/1 V4.0f)
 20  1984  CRCVMS.UNL.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (JUL02, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     943137  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     628570  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     579986  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  4     510644  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  5     510275  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     497725  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     440871  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     323820  LISTSERV.PATHFINDER.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  9     256741  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 10     255382  LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.18)
 11     253894  LISTSERV.ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 12     252620  JAVA.SUN.COM (SunOS 5.8)
 13     231939  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.2.19-6.2.16smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     229862  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 15     219500  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.2.20pre11)
 16     206032  LISTSERV.ICTNET.ES (SunOS 5.7)
 17     203952  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 18     198607  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.7 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     173465  LISTS.US.CHECKPOINT.COM (SunOS 5.8)
 20     169374  LIST.NIH.GOV (Solaris 2.6)

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

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      426448  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      424466  FOODTV@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4      253530  SKIMAPS@GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      197224  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.7)
  7      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      157433  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  9      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      132672  VULNTRAQ@LISTSERV.NTSECURITY.NET (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      124844  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      116874  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14      106909  OLISPLITALERTS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15       84803  TOURBUS@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16       83140  SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17       65161  THEONLINEINVESTOR@LISTSERV.AOL.COM (HP-UX B.11.11 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18       57381  PLIMAIL@LISTSERV.PLI.EDU (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20       55994  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)