[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – November 2005


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 (NOV05, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     720887  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     627233  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3     593785  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
  4     438729  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  5     414391  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     367318  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     364965  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
  8     363429  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp)
  9     355830  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10     333819  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11     331997  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 12     306644  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13     297148  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     260627  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 15     226366  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     224346  EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     224233  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     221787  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8)
 19     213599  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     202457  GSPOT-MAIL01.IBILL.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2005)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     3970950  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2079401  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp)
  3     1665598  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  4     1241016  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1164805  LISTSERV.VERSUS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1074755  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8      986486  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  9      982705  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 10      797762  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
 11      797206  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp)
 12      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 13      709988  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 14      703639  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp)
 15      686230  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 16      662760  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      657188  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)
 18      581215  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19      544497  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 20      491680  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (30 Nov 2005)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 39248  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2 26320  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3 19742  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-32.0.1.ELsmp)
  4 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  5  8920  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)
  6  6234  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Solaris 2.8)
  7  5805  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp)
  8  5640  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  9  5581  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
 10  5480  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
 11  5174  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 12  5118  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 13  4641  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.6)
 14  4231  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp)
 15  4173  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 16  3969  MARIST (VM/SP 1.0)
 17  3896  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18  3700  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19  3664  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 20  2756  LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (NOV05, 1-30)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     706364  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     593834  OXYGEN3.PANDASOFTWARE.COM (Windows NT 5.2 Server)
  3     442204  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  4     376078  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  5     365956  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  6     358955  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
  7     358487  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  8     344793  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-37.ELsmp)
  9     340132  MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU (OpenVMS V6.2-1H3 + LSMTP V1.1a)
 10     334644  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11     296624  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 12     263738  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 13     221962  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     214548  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8)
 15     214391  LISTES.LEMONDE.FR (SunOS 5.6 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     207406  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     202457  GSPOT-MAIL01.IBILL.COM (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 18     180134  LIST.SENIORWEB.NL (Windows 2000 Server)
 19     170737  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp)
 20     170442  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.4.18-27.7.xsmp)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (30 Nov 2005)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      364239  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  2      122843  POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9)
  3      119152  SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  4       85492  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.5-7.201-smp)
  5       79588  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
  6       78400  FIRSTGOV-L@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
  7       68032  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
  8       64619  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
  9       64397  CARE2@MILEPOST1.COM (Linux 2.4.20-31.9smp)
 10       63750  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Solaris 2.8)
 11       55785  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-22.0.1.ELsmp)
 12       52817  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 13       41873  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 14       40896  ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.4.27-grsec)
 15       40016  ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9)
 16       34702  L-LAZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 17       34488  L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 4.3)
 18       34393  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 19       33866  MOBCOMNEWSLETTER-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 20       31418  TESL-L@CUNYVM (VM/SP 4.0)