[LISTSERV - the mailing list management classic]

LISTSERV Top 20 statistics – May 2007


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 (MAY07, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     389419  LISTSERV.FOXNEWS.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     371673  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
  3     369144  MAILSENDER2.ZOOMERANG.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  4     354911  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  5     354377  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server)
  6     347030  MAILER.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     325111  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
  8     320196  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  9     284319  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 10     283334  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 11     278544  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 12     254308  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 13     233483  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8)
 14     218354  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 15     201872  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     199933  LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17     195683  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
 18     191988  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19     191328  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 20     186079  EMA3LSV01.CNN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by number of subscribers (31 May 2007)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1     4081009  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  2     2627842  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  3     1952483  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
  4     1691056  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  5     1202129  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  6     1192348  LISTSERV.CMICH.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  7     1030816  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
  8      944040  LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  9      845743  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
 10      820608  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11      805798  CUVMC.AIS.COLUMBIA.EDU (VM/SP 3.0)
 12      794012  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0)
 13      769064  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
 14      747892  GUAVA.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 15      744322  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp)
 16      731437  PUBLISHER.SSRN.COM (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 17      724761  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 18      714494  LISTSERV.ACM.ORG (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 19      683399  LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
 20      673654  LISTS.WAYNE.EDU (Solaris 2.9)

Top 20 sites by number of lists (31 May 2007)

Pos Lists  Site
--- -----  ----
  1 69913  LISTSERV.ND.EDU (Solaris 2.8)
  2 24846  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3 19335  CLEMSON.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
  4 19178  LISTES.ULAVAL.CA (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
  5 10222  LISTSERV.TAU.AC.IL (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.10.ELsmp)
  6  9683  LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0)
  7  7860  LISTSERV.UH.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-47.0.1.ELsmp)
  8  7759  LISTS.UFL.EDU (AIX 5.3)
  9  6855  LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
 10  6284  TECHUNIX.TECHNION.AC.IL (Solaris 2.9)
 11  5978  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 12  5286  LISTSERV.TAMU.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 13  5084  LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 14  4895  MARIST (VM/SP 2.0)
 15  4888  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
 16  4686  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17  4633  HERMES.GWU.EDU (Solaris 2.7)
 18  4132  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 19  4109  LISTSERV.MILLERSVILLE.EDU (Solaris 2.10)
 20  4042  LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU (Windows 2000 Advanced Server + LSMTP V1.1b)

Top 20 sites by volume generated daily (MAY07, 1-31)

Pos Recipients  Site
--- ----------  ----
  1     374673  LISTSERV.SYR.EDU (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2     363516  LISTSERV.UGA.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
  3     357177  LS.TIMEINC.NET (Solaris 2.8)
  4     317502  H-NET.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.4.29)
  5     315719  APPLE.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows 2000 Server)
  6     304254  LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG (Windows Server 2003)
  7     281897  DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
  8     280555  LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
  9     279187  HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 10     252529  LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU (Solaris 2.9)
 11     227823  LISTSERV.REDIRIS.ES (Solaris 2.8)
 12     210704  PEACH.EASE.LSOFT.COM (Windows Server 2003)
 13     199933  LISTS.CAMPMOR.COM (Windows NT 4.0 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 14     199357  BAMA.UA.EDU (Solaris 2.9 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 15     198733  LSV.UKY.EDU (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 16     185266  LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU (Windows Server 2003 R2)
 17     177184  LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG (Windows 2000 Server)
 18     164829  LISTSERV.UIC.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-42.0.2.ELsmp)
 19     159083  LISTS.LDS.ORG (Windows 2000 Server + LSMTP V1.1b)
 20     153795  LISTS.AIESEC.ORG (Linux 2.4.27-2-686-smp)

Top 20 lists by number of subscribers (31 May 2007)

Pos Subscribers  Site
--- -----------  ----
  1      378870  SSA_ENEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  2      125020  SOCIALSECURITY_W2NEWS@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
  3      122840  POSTMITA@LISTSERV.NIC.IT (Solaris 2.9)
  4      117096  COMPUTING@LIST.MSU.EDU (Linux 2.6.18.8-0.3-default)
  5       83008  TEMPLETODAY@LISTSERV.TEMPLE.EDU (Linux 2.4.21-20.ELsmp)
  6       79865  RFP-BULLETIN@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
  7       74034  E-ARTACADEMY@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9)
  8       73896  ARTINFO-L@LISTSERV.DFN.DE (Solaris 2.9)
  9       69018  L-ADMISSIONS-WIRE-A@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 10       67076  FEDINFO@LISTSERV.GSA.GOV (Windows Server 2003 + LSMTP V1.1b)
 11       65346  PND-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 12       60972  MEDPROS-L@DTIC.MIL (Solaris 2.9)
 13       60657  EDUCATION_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 14       54489  ALUMNI@LISTSERV.CC.KULEUVEN.AC.BE (Linux 2.6.19.7-grsec2.1.10-vs2.2.0)
 15       52811  FDNCENTER-L@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 16       51392  ARTS_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 17       50154  VTNETLETTER@LISTSERV.VT.EDU (Linux 2.6.9-55.ELsmp)
 18       45005  JOB-ALERT@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)
 19       44610  L-SMEALZINE@LISTS.PSU.EDU (AIX 5.2)
 20       43163  HEALTH_FUNDING@LISTS.FDNCENTER.ORG (Solaris 2.9)