[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – August 2003


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 (AUG03, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    6384358  LISTSERV.BELIEFNET.COM (Windows 2000 Professional + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2    1871714  PLUM.EASE.LSOFT.COM (OpenVMS V7.3-1 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3    1328738  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4    1031320  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (???)
  5     719292  TOPSITEZ.US (Windows NT 5.2 Enterprise Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     609228  SYT19.SENDYOUTHERE.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     567206  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  8     473182  RLY1.YOUWINMAIL.COM (Windows NT 5.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     470971  BART.EASYWINNING.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     451451  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11     424121  MAILER.INFORMIT.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     373695  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13     361388  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 14     323061  LISTSERV.COMPUTERWORLD.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     317049  LS.TIMEINC.NET (SunOS 5.8)
 16     276248  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     275952  WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     251706  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     238250  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 20     235068  JCCMAILER01.JEWELCLAIMCENTER.COM (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2003)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3067161  EMAIL.ZDLISTS.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     2355370  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     2020824  DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     1458475  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1112409  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1034117  ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      934896  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  9      930231  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 10      786171  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12      672543  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 13      664984  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 14      569008  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 15      551567  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 16      537682  ACM.ORG (AIX 4.3)
 17      533873  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/ESA 2.3.0)
 18      492446  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
 19      489112  LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20      473345  LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 Aug 2003)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  2  9608  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3  9590  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  4  9583  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  5  6024  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  6  5261  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.20-18.8smp)
  7  4247  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  8  4120  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  9  4082  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 10  3851  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 11  3678  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 12  3593  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13  3585  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 14  3234  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 15  2765  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 16  2689  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.18-bf2.4)
 17  2668  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  2397  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19  2131  LISTSERV.UNL.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-17.7.xsmp)
 20  2098  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (AUG03, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1    1023210  LISTSERV.AOL.COM (???)
  2     846631  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     567233  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 4.0)
  4     472776  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     446000  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     438639  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
  7     317176  LS.TIMEINC.NET (SunOS 5.8)
  8     275952  WALLACE.POGO.COM (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9     253152  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10     245996  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11     245499  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 12     242809  LEGALMINDS.ORG (Linux 2.2.12-0.1)
 13     229446  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.21)
 14     197921  MITVMA.MIT.EDU (VM/ESA 2.4.0)
 15     191219  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.8)
 16     185821  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     177834  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     176235  LISTS.NETSPACE.ORG (Linux 2.4.20)
 19     159617  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.7-10smp)
 20     154705  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 Aug 2003)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      472934  MW-WOD@LISTSERV.WEBSTER.M-W.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      282485  GARTNER_INSIGHT@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      257232  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  4      222483  EOL-INBOX@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5      178297  EOL-DISPATCH@DISPATCH.CNET.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6      160651  CLICK-IT@PEGASUS.THISCO.COM (Solaris 2.6)
  7      142542  CTWFAMILYNEWSLETTER-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      124855  MSN-UK-NEWS@ANNOUNCE.MICROSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      116874  WINCDR@LISTSERV.ADAPTEC.COM (Windows NT Server 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      111227  BURPEENEWS@DISPATCH.GARDEN.ORG (Windows NT Workstation 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11       83209  SELFHELP@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12       78815  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13       63635  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 14       56190  ADVISOR@LISTSERV.GARTNER.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15       54437  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 16       48524  L-PSU-TRAVEL-PROGRAM@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 17       45049  GOURMET-ECLUB@PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18       44697  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 19       38056  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.8)
 20       37877  CTWADVISORYBOARD-L@GROVER.CTWONLINE.COM (Solaris 2.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)